Artist Derrick Guild is coming a long way to be an artist-in-residence at the Lux Art Institute in Encinitas. A long, long way. For the past two years, this Scottish painter has been working on a remote island in the South Atlantic.



"Whilst I was resident on the island of Ascension, I received an invitation to take part in the Lux Residency Program," he said via e-mail from his home in Scotland. "I thought of this as a very exciting prospect."


While at Lux, Guild is planning to paint a large-scale oil based on the work of 17th-century Spanish master Diego Velazquez. Velazquez is best-known for his paintings of the royalty in the court of King Philip VI. Guild cites Velazquez as one of his greatest artistic influences.


However, it will not be a total re-creation of Velazquez's equestrian works. Guild practices what is known as "label painting," which involves creating a hyper-realistic image ---- so realistic that it fools the eye that the subject is three-dimensional rather than two.

"The painting that I will be creating for the Lux Residency is part of a series that I began 15 years ago," he explained. "This is part of my plan to re-create the major portraits of Velasquez in my label format. The labels are symbolic of society's need for order and structure. By painting the labels in a large grid format, and then imposing a Velasquez image within the grid, some interesting visual and literal meanings are created."



The layering of images allows the paintings to speak on more than one subject. That's why label painting appeals to him.


"I think people enjoy the visual experience of multiple images," he wrote. "There is a certain satisfaction in order and symmetry. I like the way that the Velasquez images, combined with the grid of the label structure, create movement within them. There is an optical depth created by the grid system. Also, each individual label can be looked at in an almost abstract sense.

"I think if people do enjoy them, it may be that it is these multiple possibilities in the visual experience that prove interesting. I also like the notion of prison and a trap ---- history and hierarchy imprisoned within society's structural codes. The label and the grid is a simple metaphor for this."


This will be the first time he will have an audience watching as he works. He thinks audiences will enjoy this because the complex multiple images will be easier to see as they go together for the first time.

"Over the years, people have often asked me about the technical process involved," he wrote. "Although the technique is quite straightforward, I often find people have difficulty understanding it, so this will be an opportunity to see it firsthand."


Often, painters at Lux try to incorporate elements of San Diego in their work, but Guild has no plans to follow their example. But he does believe his Scottish heritage will influence his work.

"There is a surreal and dark underbelly of humor in Scotland, and my work has elements of this," he admitted. "Also, the Scots have always been great travelers, and I like to see myself as part of a Scottish tradition in that respect. It should be an interesting experience, as I am sure I will find out lots of interesting things about my work."

Artist Derrick Guild

When: Opens Thursday and runs through June 20; hours, 1-5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays

Where: Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas

Tickets: $10 for two visits

Info: (760) 436-6611

Web: www.luxartinstitute.org