Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
Elements and Principles of Design Tour
SPACE: The area between and around objects. It can also refer to the feeling of depth
in a two-dimensional artwork.
See: Habitat for a Beaver, 2012 by Jason Carter
What is space? What dimensions does it have?
Space includes the background, middleground and foreground. It can refer to the
distances or areas around, between or within components of a piece. It may have two
dimensions (length and width) or three dimensions including height or depth.
What do you see in this work? What is closest to you? Farthest away? How do you know
this?
In this work we see trees, a beaver, a beaver lodge, a lake and background trees and
mountains. The trees on the far right are closest to the viewer. This is shown by them being
larger than anything else and by the fact that the viewer can not see their bottoms. The
mountains on the top right are farthest away. This is shown by their light grey colour and the
lighter colour of the trees ‘in front’ of them.
In what other way has Carter created a sense of space?
The artist has used a variety of lines to help develop a sense of space in the work. The
horizontal lines of the lake and in the mountains lead the eye from the left side of the picture
to the vertical lines of the trees on the right. The vertical lines of these trees lead the eye ‘up’
the picture to the mountains, which are farthest away. The artist also uses overlapping shapes
and changes in size to create space and depth. The beaver at the ‘front/bottom’ of the picture
overalps the horizongal bands of water and appears in front of the beaver lodge, which in turn
overlaps the bands behind it and so appears closer than the mountains. The horizontal bands
are also different tones of colour which lead the eye back into the space.
What else in the work may create a sense of depth? How does it do this?
The artist has deliberately used a wide tonal scale from dark black to pure white to create
contrast in the work. Placing a dark green shape of ground in the foreground attracts our
attention and we notice the contrast of the beaver’s tan coloured body on the dark surface. The
light tan of the beaver’s body is similar in colour to the beaver lodge whch causes the viewer’s
eye to jump to the middle of the picture plane. Finally, the changing tones of green for the lake
and background trees create further space/depth in the work.
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479
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