Kayla L. Cloonan
Blindfolded Painting Number Four
2020
acrylic, latex paint on bed-sheet
74 X 47 inches
This piece is from my new series "Going Blindly Into the Future". A visceral response to the COVID-19 epidemic, quarantine and being laid off from my day job. The first painting started as a performance piece, live streaming online where I set up paints and brushes, utilizing the largest painting stretcher I had in my studio. I then blindfolded myself and painted without visual aesthetic consideration, allowing for my body to become a physical vehicle for intuitive expression. The experience was so euphoric that I continued on the series with the same set up, varying in color palette and approach, all blindfolded. It has become an important exercise in combating self-criticism and further exploring mark-making, as well as a way for me to continue to utilize painting to work through personal emotional turmoil.