Nonstatement Statement
Artist "statements", meaning the written words attempting to expose
the artist's philosophy, intent, meaning, etc., are naturally self serving.
Here, this nonstatement is a small attempt to avoid self anointing myself
with special knowledge, skill, wisdom and/or greatness... in other words,
I hope I do not delude myself.
Consider all the following as potential reasons for art objects produced
by my hand and mind to look the way they look:
- Witness Evolution... evolution of the Universe, individual lives,
and the evolution of objects...
- Collectively and individually, life is fleeting...the Mayfly phenomenon...Life
and Art "is an organization of matter, and an expression of energy."
- Art is Idea... a product of energy and organization.
- We are products of natural forces...including human societies, forces
expressed thru our own thoughts and decisions... and our outcome always
remains to be seen...
- Objects which appear alone and suggest and emote when standing individually,
are perceived differently or made to evolve and broaden in a new context.
Of course, it is our minds, our associations and experiences that stir
the pot.
- We stand on a hill having a great view... we can see the art of the
multifaceted current world, the art of many societies from the past
world... and glimpse possibilities for the art of a future world.
- The ordinary, being everywhere, dies everyday...the extraordinary,
seen less often, dies less frequently.
- We are all mere parts to a branch of art's evolutionary tree, which
continues to grow with or without us. While being part of that branch,
we each add to our time and to the richness of the process.
Why do art objects by my hand look as they do?
Probable influences on my art: Transcendentalist writings of the 19th C;
'Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters; personal experiences in natural
settings; exposure to art and art movements of the 20th C., circa 1910-Current,
whether thru various media, face to face encounters, or personal study and
reading; expressions including floral arrangement, photography, calligraphy,
window and store decoration, stage design and movie sets; the textile arts;
earth works; children's art; art by outsiders and the uneducated; ethnographic
art of Africa, Australia, The Americas; ancient sites e.g. Stonehenge, etc.;
Science Fiction and real science from the 50's thru Carl Sagan's writings
of the 70's-90's.
Statement from Four Artists/New Directions exhibition
We have a world-view unlike any previous generation, and, in an art
historical sense, our perspective on the created array preceeding and surrounding
us is marvelous. For one who studies it, it need not be bewildering.
This 20th century Earth, with its blend of sophisticated and primitive thought,
with its advanced technologies and ancient religions, with the network of
world-wide communication open to those seeking information, finds us making
choices among increasingly complicated experiences, or seeking what is basic
and simple.
My personal interpretation of the process of my painting, and the resultant
paintings themselves, recognizes a blend of the sophisticated and the naive,
the advanced and the primitive, the conscious and the unconscious, the spontaneous
and the thoughtful.
Art, by human hand and intelligence, is an extension of life...that is,
an "expression of energy and an organization of matter". I want to extend
my own sensibilities, and create things which I have never seen before.
For me, this must be through abstraction, through nonobjective compositions
and invented forms. |
