Why Noir? Begin the béguin

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #2

Begin the béguin
bé·guin|\ bā-gaⁿ \ noun \ bi-ˈgēn\

Definition of béguin
1. a :infatuation
2. a :a vigorous popular dance of the islands of Saint Lucia and Martinique that somewhat resembles the rumba

Etymology: American French béguine, from French béguin flirtation

How did I start my film noir obsession?

I was in a state of transition with my art. Unsatisfied with the work I had been doing at that time, I went back to basics and started experimenting, and taking classes from Mark Andres. I was engaging in an exercise to copy a film still in the style of a painter of my choice. My choice was to do a still from The Bad and the Beautiful, in the style of the German Expressionist, Max Beckmann. I entitled it “Lana Turner Lost in the Land of Beckmann” The drama of the subject, matched with the freedom of Expressionist painting was a revelation.

I was hooked.

©lesliepetersonsapp Fatale 30x36 Collage on panel

At first, I created my art directly from screenshots of films. They were very altered, but from specific scenes. Gradually, the images kept getting more and more altered, until I started to create my own scenes.

Anticipate was the bridge. This was based on a scene from The Killers, but it was so altered, there would be no way to identify it as coming from that movie.

©lesliepetersonsapp Anticipate 16x20 Collage on panel

Blue Room was the first absolute original. I dressed myself up in costumes and took pictures of myself. From those pictures, I stitched together a scene with multiple figures, creating my own movie, as it were.

Now ideas emerge from multiple sources. I may be inspired from a film scene or photograph, or I may want to express something from my own imagination. The people I paint are slivers of my own soul, maybe even archetypes of our collective soul.

The scenes in my artwork are presented without irony and are imbued with an immediacy which invites the viewer to step into the scene as a contemporary moment. If we could walk through the picture frame and become part of the action. If this could be possible, what would you see, and who would be there?

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

Entry #1: Why Noir?

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #2

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