Trees Reflected

Trees Reflected

This image is an attempt to show trees reflected in layered mirrors. 

I got the idea from the Richter exhibition at the Tate before Christmas, but it has taken this long to produce a satisfactory image.

The Richter components that contributed to my idea were a combination of the following

1. Many of his images are based on photographs, but made abstract by some kind of smearing with a dry brush, which has a hypnotic effect
2. He has an installation consisting of 9 very large sheets of glass that create complex abstract reflections as you stand near them, especially viewed from the edges. I wondered what that would look like outdoors
3. His very large squeegee works (Cage paintings) look, from a distance, amazingly like reflections on water.This was what gave me the idea for striping the image (see his image below).

Crowds at the Richter Exhibition beside one of his Cage paintings

Here's how the image was made. First I took a photograph of trees in my garden.

Then I selected a suitable portion to create the initial reflection.

Then I constructed a stencil that allowed me to take 40 horizontal sections from this image and by shifting them slightly to create the multiple reflections that you see at the top of this post.

This striping is horizontal. I did try vertical first, hence the sketch from a few days ago. Although Richter's stripes are vertical (his squeegee was vertical), for this image the horizontal stripes seem better.

Not exactly a Richter squeegee effect, but it does realise the idea I had while surfing the crowds at the exhibition.