Mediator, 2021

Riley Wiebe

“Mediator,” Final Project

Oil pastel, crayons, Prismacolor pencils, graphite pencil

55’ x 45’

15 December 2021, Fall, ART 211

“Mediator” explores the concept of Identity and what it looks like to be a body in 2021. In today’s culture, people often find themselves polarized between subjects like how to address COVID-19, opposing views of the Bible, politics, and how to even simply see life. I could have chosen to explore one of these topics, but I honestly don’t find myself fitting into those “boxes” as closely as I do to the role of the “Mediator.” For me, a more prevalent theme than any of these topics is simply the idea that no one seems to be able to be on the same page. Repeatedly I find myself in situations where I can see where both parties are coming from, but they just can’t seem to find peace together. I find myself often identifying as someone who fills that position by calmly talking to people and trying to present the other’s perspective in one-sided conversations. As the drawing expresses, this is a challenging and sometimes impossible task to bring people together. But seeking harmony and even friendship between angry people is a small thing that I feel is quite important.

I depict this in “Mediator” by drawing myself attempting to pull two struggling people towards each other. I draw each figure on a different sheet of paper to communicate the extent of polarization that I am pulling against. I also used intense atmospheric perspective by drawing the limp hand at the front with the most detail and bright reds and oranges, while the colours grow cooler as they fade into the background. I drew myself with both warm and cool colours to represent that I have bits of both sides within me, even if I do have an opinion, and it is like the people are pulling parts of my Identity away as well as they struggle away/

In this piece, I study Chris Gambrell’s use of colour and blocked forms. They are able to capture incredibly accurate forms with simple marks and blocks of colour. Their work is so satisfying to me, I love how much can be communicated in simple marks. This is their website: https://hancockgallery.co.uk/collections/chris-gambrell 

In “Mediator,” I experiment with a spectrum of representational work that fades to more gestural and blocked forms as the subjects recede into the background. I wanted to see how this method might mix with my use of atmospheric perspective as Gambrell does have a range of work that includes some more gestural forms.

My favourite part of this piece is the very foreshortened hands at the front that are extremely large, filling most of the view. I like how gentle and small my hand looks at the perplexing angle. The small fingers grasp the large hand gently, yet firmly and I think that their form almost looks like clay. I also like how I transitioned in colours as parts of the body continue onto the next sheet of paper. It was fun to use closure here and be bold like Gambrell as I coloured outside of the lines a bit.

Process drawing

Mediator, 2021