Full Text of My Art Statement My art has been described as neomodernist, postmodern abstract, surreal and even cubist. Though not disavowing history, my work is more the result of the trajectory of my own creative life, which has been informed by multiple disciplines, areas of research and struggle. The early part of this trajectory was all writing and inspired mainly by film. Then I was drawn to poetry and for many years that was my prime focus. Detours into visual poetry began around 1990 and gradually took up more of my time. The vispo work had its own trajectory, which evolved from mono copy art to computer assemblages that peaked about five years ago, when my practice shifted more into digital fine art. In the lingo of today’s theory my work is, has always been, pluralist. Despite periods of heavy emphasis, there’s never been a time when I was engaged in a single discipline. This approach of multi-specialties has given my art a broad spectrum of influences. My practice in each area has developed in a nonlinear way, exploring different styles simultaneously and developing techniques that eventually became what I’d call an internalized methodology. It is said that appropriative art develops meaning by selection and recontextualization, while abstract work develops meaning by invention and a quest for autonomy. I believe my art inhabits both of these systems (though not totally embracing either). It may seem from the range of my output that I’m going in diverse directions, but I am one person that utilizes a single toolbox of methods and is propelled by one gradually changing set of assumptions that are also questions I ask through my art. Painters often talk about interacting with the material substance of paint, abandoning themselves and following where the process leads. Something analogous is true for me working on a computer. The excitement of not knowing where the process will lead is a powerful motivation. I take control, give it up and then take control again at completion, deciding I have arrived somewhere worthwhile, singular and maybe even beautiful. By beauty I do not mean just pleasing to the eye. Art presents the chance to think about things differently. The way the world appears is partial, and thus inadequate. Art is a way of approaching what seems closed, invisible, inaccessible. Art is about potential, about the new and different, but not just for the sake of being different. What’s at stake is complex and manifold. What’s at stake is other worlds, which is also a state of becoming in this world that art facilitates like a fluid mirror.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 07:38:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015