Casting Colour
Artist
In the colourful world around us, each hue stirs emotions, brings back memories, and sparks the imagination. This prompt explores how colour, when combined with words, forms a language that informs and plays off each other. Together, they form a language that informs and complements, transcending individual languages to give rise to a fresh and collaborative expression.
Janine Wong is a Professor Emerita in Art and Design at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her area of expertise is in colour, book arts and printmaking. Her work is represented in several collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art at the University of Richmond and the Yale Art Gallery, and in special collection libraries at Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, Oberlin College, Bowdoin College and the University of California Santa Barbara. She is a recipient of a Regional NEA award in works on paper and was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. She received the CBAA Exhibition Awards for her artist’s books.
Wong received an MFA in Design from the Yale School of Art and a BArch from School of Art, Architecture and Planning, Cornell University. She has also served as Assistant Dean of the College of Visual and Performing. She has been visiting artist and critic at institutions including MIT, Brown University, Harvard, RISD, Boston Architectural League and Mass College of Art and Design.
janinewong.com
Instagram: profwong
Janine Wong
Select one colour from a photograph, artwork, or a memory that holds personal significance.
Invitation
Begin by selecting one colour from a photograph, artwork, or a memory that holds personal significance. Document why this particular colour resonates with you.
Engage your senses in brainstorming information related to the chosen colour’s hue family. Delve into memories and stories associated with the broader family of the chosen colour, noting both personal and cultural connections.
Visit a hardware or paint store to collect a range of colours within the chosen hue family. Collect the related colours of value (lightness and darkness) and saturation (brightness and purity). Also, utilize paint apps such as Sherwin-Williams (Color Snap) or Home Depot (Match a Photo) to identify colour names. Note these colour names from your swatches as potential ideas and phrases for your writing.
Create collages using the paint swatches. Generate text using notes and colour names.
Create a dynamic interplay between text and colour collage. Juxtapose your written ideas with the visual elements, exploring the synergy and the role between word and image. Edit, refine and play with these two languages to create and textual and visual dialogue.