"The surface of the work moves into attention and recedes from it, always oscillating. It often reminds me of the autofocus of a digital camera, which doesn’t know what to do with a silver painting’s surface when I’m trying to document the work. It goes in and out, unable to separate the painting’s present surroundings from the object itself." Jacob Kassay, 2013
Jacob Kassay's silver-deposited canvas is a shimmering, mirror-like surface that blurs the boundary between the painting and its surrounding environment, reflecting the viewer and the room in an ever-shifting interplay of light. The work's electroplated silver finish creates an unstable visual field that seems to oscillate between presence and absence, drawing the eye in before releasing it again. Rather than offering a fixed image, the painting functions as a living surface, continuously absorbing and refracting its context in a way that resists clear perception or documentation.
- Medium
- acrylic and silver deposit on canvas
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Phillips
🔨 Auction Lot
Contemporary Art Day Sale
May 15, 2015
More by Jacob Kassay
As a trained photographer, Kassay has translated many of photography’s essential techniques and concepts into his painting practice. In
“It often reminds me of the autofocus of a digital camera, which doesn’t know what to do with a silver painting’s surface when I’m trying to document the work. It goes in and out, unable to separate the painting’s present surroundings from the object itself.” JACOB KASSAY
"The whole point is that the thing is being absolutely transformed, also that I was somehow removed in this process, all I had to do was develop a support for the catalyst and then it was then out of my hands but this is not unfamiliar territory for painting…" - Jacob Kassay
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