Saturday, January 24, 2009
Other interests informing your painting?
Hey everyone, I was just thinking about how fortunate I am currently to have my print work inform and really reinvigorate my painting. Honestly I was at a point where I was so frustrated with painting that I never wanted to do it and then I started to get into printmaking and finally found some sort of direction in my work. I was wondering about all of your artistic pursuits outside of painting and how it relates to your work...
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For me personally, I think far too much informs my work . . . well maybe not . . . maybe just enough!
ReplyDeleteI find that day to day life provides me with a lot of fodder for my work in general, but I do tend to surround myself with things that evoke a sense of magic. Let's see . . . horror, scifi, and fantasy movies, fiction books, Tibetan Buddhist iconography, art books, antiques, and all of you! I am also constantly observing when I'm outside, I might find the position of a crow on a wire or a tree branch that gives me an idea. When I was more active in ceramics I certainly found that I would get ideas for 2D work while I was working in clay. I think that that still happens now but in reverse. The sculpture class I took last term had a similar effect as well, with fewer limitations than ceramics. I still find myself wanting to incorporate aspects of sculpture into my current work. So I think as far as another medium goes, sculpture would be the most influential at this point . . .
Because I begin my work intuitively it is after I am finished that I discover what has informed my work.
ReplyDeleteThis includes my interests in Anthropology, Philosophy and native and contemporary art in all mediums. My pessimistic take on the current political, cultural and social environment and the contact and discussions with my peers and instructors all seem to stimulate and create the nascent images of my recent paintings.
I believe with their dark and nihilist mood they have a sense of truth and that informs my work.
To paraphrase Nietzsche in "The Birth of Tragedy"... art does not find a role in the larger context of life, but rather life takes on a truthful meaning and significance only as it is expressed through art...
Ain't that the TRUTH.
Lately, what has been motivating me has been a desire to try different subject matters and styles. Normally I am very representational, but recently I have been experimenting with minimalism and abstraction and have found it to be very liberating and in fact, fun. For this type of style, I look to outside sources such as others who work in this theme, nature, doodling, etc. So there are many external activities which influence me. In fact, there is one activity which always forces me to think creatively and problem solve: Lego. I have always played with lego's and I continue to do so building various spacecraft, cars, structures, etc. of my own design. It always brings out the kid in me and it is not only relaxing, but helps me to look at an idea for a build and try and figure out how to realize it in a limited palette of pieces...The same way I would try to figure out how to paint an idea with a palette of oils.
ReplyDeletelast semester i took ceramics and I also found that it helped me to embrace a certain path. For example my most favorite work I did in that class was one with finger marks and rough almost painterly texture. So that helped me to really push for that in my paintings. Also the subject matter in my paintings started showing up in my ceramic work. This just reinforced what I was doing, but seeing it in another media can really help pinpoint what you want to do.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I have seen ways of writing, graphic design fonts and forms of Calligraphy become a driving force within my work. I realized this, more so, after a friend linked my work w/ various forms of writing – such as Hebrew, Arabic, and even oriental characters. This is something I am definitely conscious of now & I am implementing these items into my work. I plan to research this - recently discovered link to my work- further within the duration of this course. As it is a means of arguing the importance of my work and its relation to the field of language and writing as another art form.
ReplyDeleteMusic & Art go hand in hand for me as an artist. Some of you can relate, perhaps? Robert, I know you agree. You rocker, you! Hehe. I always have rock n roll, the Blues or Classical music on- in the background. The music keeps me motivated and helps me to create my lively, energetic paintings. I see a link between musical notes (music as a language) and my artwork. Some of my artworks seem like symphonies. Various pieces have large crescendos and others have subtle tones. Some more works just dance with a playful, flowing rhythm. Not to leave out- I sometimes dance and sing while I work. I like to jam on my mini grand & keyboard in between my art making too. I throw my music making into the mix…I jam a little & I paint a little… it’s all good. :)
I absorb a lot of the stimuli around me. Some say that you are what you eat. Perhaps, others may say that you are what you read. In this millennium, it seems that you are what you watch. Well, I am what I produce, as an artist, to a great degree. I am what I paint or draw and what I keep creating. I am evolving along with my art. My life is reflected in much of my work, emotionally-especially. I’m sure many of you can relate.
Moreover, art is a daily practice. I make sure to draw or paint every single day. I take along my art pads on many occasions- out to lounges, restaurants, etc... The eye is like a muscle. The more i flex that muscle, or the more i practice drawing / eye-hand coordination, the better my eye will be. This goes for painting, as well. I borrow that sentiment from the mind of artist- Richard Serra, who has inspired me greatly- especially in terms of keeping track of myself, as an artist. I draw in many of my art journals, in and out of class, all the time… It has proven to be very beneficial for me, reflecting on phases of my life with art. I read about the past problems in my works & how I found more problems, which are good now, I have learned. : ) It’s just another way of getting in touch w/ the inner Andrew, the Artist.
When you travel as much as I do, you begin to observe and absorb fragmets of the history and culture of different countries as well as the economic, political and social situations that are unfolding.
ReplyDeleteI have my camera ready at all times and take hundreds of photos as to record as much of my surroundings as I could.
Whether its a nude bather on the beach at Cannes,a protest against the government in Madrid or Mexico City,an interesting angle of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, street performers in Madrid and Paris or the ruins of the Roman empire in Italy, all of these experiences have an impact on my work.
I have been fortunate to visit many of the museums around the world to see up close, so many works of art, sculpture and architecture...and I am influenced by all of it.
I am experimenting with digital photography to manipulate images that I have collected and have used this as a preparation for thinking out composition, arrangement for my work.
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