To the amazement of the patrons, gallery owners, and engineers alike, Eccher hides a painting inside another painting and then uses LED lights to reveal the hidden painting in a darkened room. When the SMD 5050 RGB LED light strips change colour, the paint colours react to the lights, creating movement in the painting. And, when a sound controller is added to the LED lights, the paintings become sound reactive, making them come to life.
“Combining LED lights with fine art takes them both to an unprecedented level,” says Jennifer Guerrero, owner of The Light Center, a lighting specialty store. “I have been in the lighting business for 16 years, and I have never seen anything like these paintings. It’s like turning a key and entering into a secret world, you never knew, but existed. The LEDs bring you to a deeper level of a painting’s essence.”
Eccher calls the revolutionary method ‘Tiered Painting,’ where the top painting is the ‘Visible Tier’, and the bottom painting is the ‘Hidden Tier’. He says Tiered Painting takes painting to an entirely new level for him as a painter of 16 years.
“Since humans started painting in caves, such as Chauvet Cave 32,000 years ago, paintings have always been a static image. LEDs, however, allow me to not only communicate with two different paintings in one piece, but as the colors change, so do the paintings, creating a complexity that is challenging and fun at the same time. I feel as if I’ve arrived on the beach in a land where no one has existed. The possibilities and inspirations are endless.”
Artist Clint Eccher is bringing a power to painting that Da Vinci, Van Gogh and Picasso could only have dreamt of and it is all because of the advent of LED lights.
Technically, the paintings are extremely simple. They involve SMD 150/300 5050 RGB LED light strips being strung and attached to a board he attaches to the back of the painting. The challenge, according to Eccher, comes with selecting the right products.
“I have experimented with a lot of different types of light strips, controllers, and power supplies. For my purposes, I needed to learn about voltage, amperage, and wattage, as well as quality and performance factors. And, even now, I’m still experimenting, trying to find that perfect product match. Ultimately, though, it comes down to what a patron wants. LED technology is amazing because I can easily switch out the lighting and components and customize a painting accordingly.”
Eccher is continually working on modifying his method. Because it is not always feasible for a room to be completely darkened, he says he also plans around varying room lighting.
“I’m always striving to make this method as flexible as possible. I now work to not only include a painting that is clearly visible painting in a fully lit room with the LEDs off, as well as an entirely different painting that is visible in a fully darkened environment, but I also now work to ensure the two work together to form a combined version of the two in a normally lit room with the LEDs on. There’s something mysterious but calming about a painting that is subtly glowing and moving in a normally lit room.”
Eccher says he has been painting for all types of audiences and situations. He has painted literal paintings on top of literal paintings for the atypical art patron. He has painted abstract sound-reactive paintings that could work in dance clubs, offices and other entertainment venues. He has been painting abstract painting on top of more risqué paintings that could be included in bedrooms for mood lighting. He even has painted a historical painting on top of a contemporary painting to be used for educational purposes.
“Clint is doing everything he can to fully explore his creation,” says Guerrero. ”It’s amazing to watch the reactions of people when they see the paintings and how transfixed they become viewing a revolutionary painting style for the first time. This is more than art. It can only be described as an experience.”
Sidebar
video (https://youtu.be/mr4A9oAki-I) can be found on Eccher’s web site (www. clinteccher.com) that illustrates the power of Tiered Paintings
