Linda Eye Series V (Magenta, cyanne and yellow)

Chuck Closes Linda Eye Series V (Magenta, cyanne and yellow) from 1977 combines all three chromatic channels of the CMYK printing model to reconstruct the eye of his subject Linda Chase through additive color mixing. Where the single-channel studies isolated one component of the color spectrum, this three-channel version reunites them to produce a full-color image that nevertheless retains the grid-based, mark-by-mark construction that makes every Closes work a demonstration of its own making process. The watercolor medium contributes a luminosity and transparency that oil paint cannot achieve, allowing the three color layers to interact optically rather than physically, in the manner of Pointillist color mixing. Each concentric oval mark is applied in one of the three process colors, and the viewers eye performs the final mixing, creating an image that exists at the intersection of mechanical reproduction and handcraft. Close developed this series during a period of intense experimentation with different media, from airbrush to fingerprint to watercolor, each chosen for the specific optical properties it could contribute to the construction of photographic resemblance through non-photographic means.

Closes exploration of the CMYK color model in his eye studies opened new possibilities for how photographic images could be constructed through manual mark-making, influencing not only painting but also digital image-making practices that rely on the same additive principles.

A three-channel CMYK watercolor from Closes eye studies that reconstructs the eye through additive color mixing, uniting analytical deconstruction and perceptual synthesis in a demonstration of how photographic resemblance can be built mark by mark.