Ars poetica Colorium

The idea for my Colorium series was inspired by Antal Nemcsics’ article Colour Dynamics. Colorium is the symbol of Colorland, that is the Coloroid colour system. Nemcsics interprets colours as harmonic vibration, magnetic disturbance, and the flow of energy quanta. His experiences with colours do not only capture the world we can see but go beyond that to reflect the emotions evoked by colours. According to his theory of complex colour harmony, the content of colour harmony has three interdependent levels. The first level is colour perception level, which can be explained by the psychophysical context. This is followed by the second level, the effect of the perceived colour complex on the perceiver’s psyche. The third level is the complex interaction between colour, man and the environment.

I am using the colour dynamics of Antal Nemcsics to create my series, interpreting it in the present, in the present time. Based on the colour theory of Antal Nemcsics, I’m painting the spaces and landscapes in Hungary that I have visited or experienced myself. I wait for the pictures to dry completely, then mix the colours applied to the paintings, each in a different random proportion. Thus, in each case, I get a certain shade of grey, which I apply evenly to the surface of the picture as a complete overcoat. After applying the grey overlay, I clear certain parts of the image, and others I don’t cover. Coloured surfaces appear under the grey topcoat in areas that have been cleared or retained in their original colours. The degree, intensity and materiality of the colour developed in this way depends on the specific moment and space. With this I would like to support Professor Antal Nemcsics’ idea that colours transcend themselves and create a “system of our colour experiences”, i.e. the “Coloroid” colour system, which is not infinite and homogeneous, but like but like all works, finite and unique, similar in structure to the physical world, and its laws are similar to the laws of human cognition. The thickness of the paintings in the series is constantly changing, depending on the layers that are stacked, just as the structure of the physical world mentioned by the professor is in constant motion. According to Nemcsics, neutral colours consist of absolute white, surface whites, grey, surface black, and absolute black. Neutral colours have no characteristic wavelength. There are an infinite number of neutral colours on the axis of the Coloroid colour system. From these – not counting absolute black and absolute white – he selects the 99 neutral colours at the same harmonic threshold distance. He calls this colour range the Coloroid grey scale. The grey I mix with the painter’s eyes, not with a machine, based on numbers and grams, can never result in exactly the same shade, because they are not mixed in the same proportion, so each one will be unique. Thus, the artist’s individual choice at a certain moment transcends the laws of the Colorland and becomes a reflection of his own psyche. For me, grey is the symbol of a person greyed into the rushes and chores of everyday life, from whom colour can indeed be evoked.