“Where have you dripped?”
I’ve been trying to conceptualize the next step in my dripping motif. Establishing the elusive elegance of mortality in the drips is one thing. The visual tension between what is there and what is fleeting. I’m considering taking the motif further with the idea, “where have you dripped?”. Unlike dust, humans have (or have the potential to have) an impact on their environment, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Even as our flesh slowly flees the earth, we leave residue, we leave evidence, we leave drips.
In thinking of composition and subject matter I think this will become an integral theme in my work. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Moving on
Now with some time to think about the direction I’m headed with my work, I thought I’d put up my reading list for books that are on my reading palette.
This book was recommended by Susan Mains and is a combination of art history, criticism and technical guide all wrapped up in an engaging true story. This book is sitting on the coffee table in my studio waiting to be read.
Concerning the Spiritual in Art. By Wassily Kandinsky.
A staple for any artist to understand some of the conceptual grounding for the use of form and color, particularly in painting. Kandinsky also touches on the position of the artist as an avant garde. A lot of the work is pretty esoteric but interesting in the artistic conversation.
What Painting Is. By James Elkins
I carry this book around with me and read when I get moments. Elkins likens painting to alchemy as a basic premise. As a painter we work with chemicals and elements such as earth (pigments) and water (or oil) to create something on canvas that is ‘gold’. As an art form painting is very tactile and messy and like alchemists, painters spend their time combining different chemicals at different ratios in search of a perfect balance.
In Pursuit of Elegance. By Matthew E. May
Symmetry, Subtraction, Seduction, Sustainability. These are the elements of elegance. This book is usually found in the science section but it is applicable in business, art, and just plain old good ideas. There are many elements I’ve taken away from reading this book that I am applying in my art and how I think about my work.
I have a couple other books on my wishlist but these are the ones that I’m juggling right now. Let me know if you are reading any of the same!
Update on work
For those following along, the school semester is coming to a close and I am positioning myself for the upcoming year.
I have a show in Barbados in February that I will be painting for. I have worked out a studio space in downtown Dallas in an area called the Cedars.
I’ll use this space for making canvas stretchers (www.stretchmycanvas.com) as well as for painting. It will be nice to have room to have several canvases out at once!
With this new space I’m going to be reworking my spring semester. I’m not going to be taking a painting course, I’m going to take the time to process the new techniques I’ve taken on before taking another painting course. I’ll be sure to update my new work on here.
An artist in time
This is a quick post on something that I’ve been thinking about regularly while working, especially while building canvas stretchers. It is essential to realize that as an artist in time you are in constant relationship with yourself. The things that ‘past Asher’ does affect the progress ‘present Asher’ and ‘future Asher’ can make. When ‘present Asher’ is annoyed that lines don’t add up, he has ‘past Asher’ to blame. ‘Past Asher’ then works in fear of disappointing ‘future Asher’. There is a constant interplay of realizing how my work in time affects my work in other time.
Progression
Some of you may notice that a lot of my new work looks quite different from my regular style. I am adapting new media and techniques to better communicate my concepts. Besides the application of paint to canvas, my concepts are developing too, and need new skin to stand in.
Some of my thoughts on decolonization are turning more to a mutual liberation from the implications of colonization. It is typical to think of liberation from the side of the historically oppressed. There does need to be a mental liberation, but it needs to occur on both sides. To a point, we have to realize that we are where we are because of the decisions of our forefathers. Historically, that is all we have to work with. To indulge or even to wallow in the inhumanity of our forefathers is to live out their sin as our curse. To promote racism, ethnicism, and division is to join in the chorus of humanity becoming less than human. You cannot reject someone’s humanity without first dehumanizing yourself. If we take a stance of affirmation in each other’s “-ness” we increase. Decolonization is more than deconstructing systems and chasing out Babylon. Decolonization is a conscious decision to empower others so that we can all be empowered.
