Recently, I visited the Royal Academy of Arts to see the Jasper Johns Exhibition called ‘Something Resembling Truth’. He explores the complex transformations of objects and images throughout his work.

The piece I found very interesting is called ‘Painting with Two balls’ completed in 1960. Johns’s  use of brushstrokes and colour creates a chaotic landscape with confused emotions. The white stencilling of the letters against the vivid background enhances an bold impact. He has painted it on three separate panels with two wooden balls forced into a darkened slit between the top two panels. By creating a gap in the painted surface, he wants to create a world of painting allowing the viewers to leap through the canvas. I feel after seeing this painting in flesh, it changes my perspective of the way of thinking on painting, it made me think of creating and incorporating different elements into my work. I realised to create a painting beyond what it is suppose to be. There is a great value in witnessing this piece in flesh as I was able to understand the layers of meaning through visually and verbally. Initially, I didn’t understand why he incorporated two balls but I had an audio guide along the exhibition. I then had understood on why he named and used two balls because it was an anatomical reference within the work itself reflected on his personal concerns. He is a gay and reserved man, he had a little respect for the overtly masculine displays. He was painting his feelings in abstract form.

The whole atmosphere makes it very thrilling and intriguing as there were more of his paintings around the rooms, they represent the styles he explored in his years. I was allowed to walk around the room understanding why he was working on this theme at the time.