2012
48″ x 57″
59″ x 70″
The work “Ornatus” takes its title from a Latin word with several meanings. Most basically, it indicates that the subject is equipped or furnished according to its needs; in a more refined sense, it indicates adornment or decoration — the root of our word “ornate”. Most poetically, the term expresses honour and admiration. It was these last two meanings that I found reflected in this work as I guided it to completion. As with all my pieces, the creation of “Ornatus” was an act of devotion to the natural world. “Ornatus”, in particular, celebrated the rococo quality of nature at even its most spare and simple, its rich and anarchic complexity, undergirded by an undeniable code of truth, honesty and reason. My practice, though high-tech and very digital, is at its base a modern variation of venerated traditions in the very physical craft of painting, particularly this late-Baroque moment now designated as the rococo period. Just as art was bursting into a marvelously complex and organic sensibility, abundant with joy and discovery, so were our societies at the time throwing open new doors and windows, evolving their perspectives on and understanding of their world, from its physical realities through its social principles to its spiritual truths. All of this knowledge, from the most practical to the most philosophical, could be traced back to the most essential truth of all — the undeniable majesty and generosity of nature.
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© 2012 Ysabel LeMay. All Rights Reserved.