Honesty. With all good intentions - to make my paintings more accessible to viewers - I began to title them after what they resembled. So there were landscapes, butterfly wings, tree frogs, and rivers. It gave people a way into the painting, to read a title they could understand and apply it to the painting in front of them. And there were correlations in color and shape between the abstract painting and the verbal referent.
The dishonesty on my part comes from the fact that I had no such intention before or during the painting process - to "make" a landscape, butterfly wings, tree frogs, or rivers. The process of painting is the subject of the painting. This probably isn't such an awful thing to do, except that I sometimes began to paint "toward" a title or a series. So I began to think of the paintings as landscapes, or whatever, during the process and afterwards. The pure intention began to fade.
This was a trap I set in my own path. It may be at the root of my problems in writing the artist statement. Now I'm caught and struggling, and no wonder, to return to the pure act of painting balanced against the visual outcome of the act. That's where I started. Finding a subject matter outside the painting, even just as a title, is misleading and counter-productive to me as a painter and probably ultimately to the viewer as well.
There are a number of solutions to consider (I hate paintings called "Untitled"), and I'm not sure yet which direction I'll go. Suggestions welcome.
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What about using the Series name followed by a number to indicate when it was created in the series. Then you could write about the series and not feel it necessary to write about or find justification in each individual work of art.
ReplyDeleteThe 'pure intention' you speak of is, for me, the hardest part to hang on to. I want to start "finding things" in the abstract shapes i create and if i am not careful i will start to concentrate on making it look more like the thing i have found instead of letting the viewer make the discovery (or not). It is a very difficult thing for me to do, but lately i have been FORCING myself to obliterate anything that starts to take on the semblance of something tangible. What i have found is that what comes up later in the work is the real force behind my vision and the earlier pieces were just roadblocks, or maybe tests would be a better term, to determine my sincerity. Maybe this is all too 'cloak and dagger' and it doesnt really have to be this difficult?????
This is probably the direction I'm heading. Sometimes in the past I've found a series name and then used that with a number for each painting. It's a whole lot easier and a good way to keep track of work as well - easier to remember the circumstances of 4 different series than 30 individually titled paintings.
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while I roll over on the "pure intention" mode and try to find something - a figure, a scene - just for a break. Recently this led to a short-lived series called "Hummingbirds with Blowtorches." It's usually fun and enlightening for the first bit, and then becomes so much of a burden and a drag that it sends me screaming back to "pure intention."
Hmmm "Hummingbirds with Blowtorches" is a very thought provoking title for a series. Can you share pix? Off to the Honduras for 2 weeks of snorkelling in crystalline, aquamarine water off an island - Expect SOMETHING to turn up from a trip like this.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, "Hummingbirds with Blowtorches" were short-lived in time as well as in series. They are painted over now. They were funny, but not fun. Also possibly meaningful in an acerbic kind of way, but not authentic to me.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy warm water, sunshine, exotic species, and maybe drinks with umbrellas?