Red Wave

Spatial painting · 2023

ArtistDavid Spriggs
Dimensions156 × 156 × 41 cm
60 × 60 × 15 in
MaterialsAcrylic on layered plexiglass in display case

The emotional intensity of red.

David Spriggs, Red Wave, front view. Red wave painted across layered transparent plexiglass. — *Red Wave*, front view.

In Red Wave, a curling formation creates a circular opening. Is the form the circular void or the surrounding red? Its shape suggests water folding into itself, while the saturated red brings associations of the body and blood. The colour changes the emotional register of the wave, connecting a natural force with sensations felt in relation to the body. The central opening becomes a peaceful focus for our vision amid the surrounding turbulence. The sculpture holds the wave before its implied motion can be completed, sustaining the tension between the force it suggests and the stillness of the encounter. Red makes the familiar subject strange, allowing the wave to be experienced as both a formation of water and an expression of heightened feeling.

David Spriggs, Red Wave, 2023. View with the artist. Red wave painted across layered transparent plexiglass. — David Spriggs, *Red Wave*, 2023. View with the artist.

David Spriggs, RED WAVE, Oblique view showing the depth of the painted planes. — Oblique view showing the depth of the painted planes.

Frontal detail of Red Wave by David Spriggs. Red wave painted across layered transparent plexiglass.