Densely Textured or Haptic Surface
About
A general category for paintings, sculptures, and other objects with highly tactile and densely textured surface treatments. These surfaces may result from the repeated application of material or the aggregation of smaller sculptural units or objects carried over the entire surface to create relief. The artworks included in this category can vary from delicate compositions in paper, such as the petal-like accretions covering the paintings of Chinese contemporary artist Zhuang Hong Yi, to the rough surfaces seen in Brazilian artist Marcos Coelho Benjamim’s reliefs made of rusted industrial metals. Intricately assembled surface textures frequently blur the line between painting and sculpture, extending two-dimensional compositions into three dimensions, and stimulate the viewer’s impulse to experience the work through touch.
