Sun, 19 Aug 2007
Mishaps and misunderstandings
Being misunderstood doesn't automatically make one the tragic, suffering artist, but it does make for good analysis. I have a painting on show in the current summer exhibition at the Eyestorm Gallery. At the private view it was hung upside down, but amazingly it still worked despite the mistake, which gives some credit to the construction of the piece. When I create my work, my preoccupation with intricate shifts in surface details negates any reason to visualise its final orientation. In fact, my weakness is that I can not always decide until much later into its development, another viewer's interpretation helps, and in that sense the work begins to fulfil its purpose, albeit very subtle, communicating a microcosm of place. There were quite a few artists in the milieu of the private view, and one artist I spoke to proclaimed herself to be a painter's painter which got me to thinking about my own and other artists' work. When I look at another artist's artwork it is nearly always with a formalist, objective eye first and foremost, deciphering the narrative or meaning a short time later. The painter's tools are fundamental to my philosophy of working, it is real stuff applied to a physical panel. It is the visual metamorphosis that occurs that I find so compelling, and in that sense, I know that I am a painter's painter - no misunderstanding. Being misinterpreted as an artist has much to do with one's work not being seen by the right audience, perhaps those with similar visions or values. I cannot hope to communicate to all people, so the context in which I function as an artist (and in which my work is seen) is vital to maintain any sense of purpose in what I choose to do. I know that my work will appeal to certain aesthetic sensibilities, and I can no longer be concerned if it fails to engage the hearts or minds of the masses along the way; it seems much more fulfilling to communicate with the few but more deeply. The owners at Eyestorm like my work and want to take more. The exhibition runs until early September 2007...

Crag #1, 2007. Mixed media on panel, 30x90cm. See also with Crag #2 (diptych) in the Painting Gallery.
(click on image to view larger)


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