So, I finally got to the actual art work. I do believe the process of conversing and processing with you, Luke, and your empathetic support, helped me hugely to see myself as an artist within some artistic context, which, in turn, gives me confidence to explore more with my art work without negating all that’s been achieved so far. Before that, I existed in a vacuum, or as you saw it, lived in a box (I am referring to that woman saint the name of whom I forgot!). Actually, I had plenty of feedback, all of it pretty profane.
There were thoughts, drawings, travels and exhibitions since our last meeting. Also, revisiting the old blog posts that surprised and encouraged me to write more, badly or well, is beside the point. I list below the art work that happened in those weeks and let it trigger the conversation.
This is an idea jotted down for later thought. The later came a day ago, and here is the current stage report.
Started collecting artefacts for the art legend that I am. Here is a little quote from Marina Kim: “There is a fundamental difference between art and craft: PREDICTABILITY.” ART cannot be predictable.
Leafing through the photos, I came upon the pictures of Australian art. In Sydney, we visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales. I had the good fortune to arrive at the time when there was a massive retrospective of Louise Bourgeois, which was amazingly educational and inspirational. Almost equally fascinating was the permanent collection of Australian and Aboriginal art. Which is interesting – a legacy of one female artist is practically on par with the art legacy of an entire continent… But back to Australian art: it was an odd mix of the European tradition and some local innovations, influenced by the Aboriginal art. Some elements worked really well. Loved the work by a contemporary Australian artist Jude Rae.
So, the two years of travelling and looking at amazing art, after two decades of instinctual art-making, trying, agonising, self-educating, coupled with a year of our conversations, are, finally, seemingly, enabling me to connect the scattered dots of my artistic identity. The field is cleared, time to gather stones. I am sensing a cloud of grandiose delusions descending upon me…
To keep down to reality, a bit of au plain air and straight-forward traditional art work is in order, which I did do while visiting my friend in Wales.
And then, I was in Paris, and an opportunity to draw portrait sketches presented itself. During that visit, I got lucky to see a retrospective of Gerhard Richter (big, impressive, varied, almost as crazy as the one of Louise Bourgeois in Sydney), and a small and exquisite collection of works by Georges de la Tour.
So, I am interested in expressing light, space, and time. That’s what I read from the art work produced lately. I’ve seen many and various ways to do that. I want to find my own. Now, I can guess the underlying reasons for some abstract explorations. For example, colour studies. Thinking about geometry, light and colour, came up with the following (only one, the first, meek attempt at something big):
With the same thought on my mind, went back to my familiar formula to explore it further:
And now, back to routine, artisanship, admin, accounting, thinking, writing, connecting the dots. There is lot to admire about the Dutch Golden Age with its bourgeois values and systems.