Plein air gone wrong / Jon Mc Andrei Abad

• Main Author: Abad, Jon Mc Andrei
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Art and Design 2021
• Subjects: ND Painting; Technique and materials
• Online Access: https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/59048/1/59048.pdf; https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/59048/
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Mara

I named the piece, “Plein Air Gone Wrong” for capturing an artist’s perspective who’s doing a Plein air painting in the midst of the wilderness which is seldom touched by sunlight, but with a twist. This artist loves painting nature/wild, not as the main subject but only as a background for his favourite subject, his ideal woman. It turned out that the woman in the painting is the image of the woman who managed to escape from the canvas installed in the artist’s easel. I couldn’t tell if it is just his hallucination but it would be more interesting if we view it as a miraculous or magical event where a painting was brought to life. But by what, by whom, or how? Maybe by his undying desire towards this mysterious woman. I can say that this is parallel with my current situation, knowing that I am the artist behind this piece. The woman in the painting is a real person who I consider as my favourite muse for my works, for some reason. It may be because I enjoy painting her features and anatomy or the fact that I am still clinging to the memories that we once shared. From all my work that she is included in, this one seems like a work of farewell. You cannot see it unless you read this, the story behind the 5 significant elements. First, the woman that I introduced earlier, you see the dripping paint at the bottom part of her dress, it signifies that she is not real, she isn’t literally, but even inside this piece, she is portrayed as a painting or an idea.