Sea Change by Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock's Sea Change Painting was completed in 1947. This particular painting can be thought of as more traditional.

While Pollock is known for his action painting, which were produced mainly by dripping or throwing paint onto a canvas, he did have several which were created with more intensive use of a brush. Sea Change is one of those.

While Sea Change saw more action from Pollock's brush than his trowel, it is still not completely conventional. In fact, it may be thought of as having elements of a mixed media work.

The artist did not only utilise swirls of heavy, viscous oils in this work. He also added pebbles, producing an interesting texture that would have been difficult to render otherwise.

Sea Change was created in two distinct stages. Evidence of this is seen from photos taken of the work by the sculptor, Wilfrid Zogbaum. In the first stage, Pollock used a brush to apply paint to a canvas.

By that point in his artistic life, that was a bit unusual for him, since he had already started experimenting with the effect of throwing himself into his paintings by vigorously hurling paint at his canvases.

Fans of William Shakespeare will recognise the title of Sea Change as being from the poem in The Tempest, by the legendary author. The work reflects the sometimes seemingly angry motion of deep water, pulled to and fro by forces greater than it. In some ways, it may have mirrored Pollock's life.

This remarkable painter was not without his own personal struggles. While much of his inner turmoil seemed to find expression on canvas, he was known as someone who did not stay very far away from the bottle.

The Tempest was one of the last plays written by Shakespeare. While he may not have known what lay ahead for him, Sea Change was also one of the paintings done by Pollock in the last years of his life.