Jon Sasaki: A quarter inch square of a Tom Thomson painting (2013)


At first glance this image appears to be an aerial view of a hilly landscape; a river flowing through the sort of geological rock formations that take shape over eons as various forces act upon them. In fact it is a heavily magnified view of the surface of the KW/AGs Tom Thomson painting, a macro view of the tiny point where three brushstrokes intersect. (demarcated by a rectangle below the red arrow in the second photo.)

Like the landscape itself, this painting is not immune to transformative physical forces. Moisture, heat, cold, expansion and contraction are reconfiguring its surface as well. Cracks appear and brushstrokes slide around like tectonic plates.


Jon Sasaki