Concrete Portraits, 2010 - 2012 , depicted actual, small areas of the sidewalks that I walked over daily on my way to and from work.
Rain Concrete , 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 31 x 41 cm.
Beaconsfield Rd Concrete, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 45.5 x 61 cm.
part 2
Although I had been making paintings of concrete off and on for 25 years, my finding, in 2018, of small pieces of Roman concrete, tumbling out of the 2300 year-old walls of Porticus Aemelia in Testaccio, was a revelation for me. They were of negligible value on the sidewalk, being crushed to their elements by the feet of pedestrians. I furtively bent and picked up several pieces feeling like I was stealing ancient gold. These little chunks of mortar were the subject of a group of works, Concrete Examples, 2019 - 2022 , in which I painted their portraits combined with copies of fresco details from the Palazzo Massimo in Rome and the villas of both Augustus and Livia on the Palatine.
all images: Sheila Ayearst
Concrete Example: Column , 2019. 91 x 147 cm. below : Concrete Example: Dado , 2021. 51 x 61 cm.
And then came the reporting of an enormous breakthrough in the understanding of the longevity of Roman concrete.
6 on site review 48 :: building materials
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