totality of the day David Johns

The composition presents a fragmented landscape rendered in a vibrant, almost theatrical palette. The artist has eschewed traditional perspective, instead opting for a flattened plane where disparate elements collide and overlap. A dominant diagonal bisects the canvas, creating a sense of dynamic tension and visual instability.
Upper portions are characterized by broad swaths of color – ochre, crimson, and deep violet – that blend into one another with soft gradations. These areas evoke an emotional intensity, perhaps suggesting a sunset or dawn viewed through a haze. The application of paint appears relatively smooth in these regions, contributing to the feeling of atmospheric depth.
Lower sections introduce a stark shift in style. Here we see a series of sharply defined geometric forms – a jagged horizon line composed of rectangular blocks – that disrupt the fluidity above. These shapes are rendered with crisp edges and a more deliberate application of paint, creating a sense of constructed reality rather than naturalistic representation. The color scheme here is cooler, dominated by blues and purples, which further accentuates the contrast with the warmer tones above.
The interplay between these contrasting elements – the organic fluidity versus the geometric rigidity – is central to the paintings meaning. It suggests a dialogue between subjective experience and objective reality, or perhaps between memory and perception. The dark background that surrounds the composition serves to isolate the forms, intensifying their individual impact and contributing to an overall feeling of enclosure.
Subtly, there is a sense of layering; the geometric shapes appear to be positioned in front of the softer, blended colors, suggesting depth but simultaneously denying it through the flatness of the execution. This ambiguity reinforces the painting’s exploration of perception and its inherent limitations. The work doesnt offer a clear narrative but rather invites contemplation on the nature of representation itself – how we construct our understanding of the world through fragmented glimpses and subjective interpretations.