Talking Art- Talking about my recent discoveries...

Putting myself in a situation to rethink about myself, I found out that there is a strong need to enlarge my possibilities by making further discoveries and changes. Anish Kapoor is an amazing artist that I have started to grow fond of after reading his interview. Though his artworks are very far (in concepts, styles, etc) from my way of working, his approach and thoughts on art are simply delightful. Here is an artist who is formulating the right words to what I am feeling right now.

“I think I am a painter who is a sculptor. My view is that sculpture has been about presence in the world, a kind of emanating out of the world- physical, here. What I have always been engaged in- which is what I think painters do- is to deal with an illusory presence in the world; one that isn’t necessary here. That’s the nature of painting. It’s a mindscape or a soulscape, whereas on that level sculpture would be a bodyscape. For me the two things somehow seem to have come together, so that I am making physical things that are all about somewhere else, about this illusory space. Even with the early work, that was very much there. The powder pieces were like islands sitting on the floor, icebergs, partially revealed, partially above the ground. That seemed to be implying that the rest of the object was under the ground or the other side of the wall.”

To copy his statement, I would like to formulate my own: “I think I am a sculptor who is a painter”. His word has the rightness that I was seeking for; words that I was struggling to put on paper: Are paintings meant to have a logical thinking, even when one is working intuitively/on a personal plane?. I felt close to his ideas, especially what he says about the painting being much more, the “soulscape”. When discussing about his own making, he says:

“Making art isn’t an intellectual or theoretical activity, it is deeply rooted in the psychological- in the self.”… “As if I was dealing with some kind of personal truth, with something I instinctively knew about… I didn’t think of it in terms of lasting or not. It was just that I was doing then and that was what mattered. I could only see it growing. I began to leave some old influences behind… That time was a time of feeling that I was closer to myself than I had ever been before...

“I think the art work isn’t as important as the artist. It’s a question of ‘seeing’ the process of art-making as being a process of self-discovery. Let’s say the work is a kind of reflection of some inner processes out of which the work grows. It also has to do with the feeling that the last work I made is not as important as the work as the work that I am going to make. I think this is crucial. Every time I do a show there is this feeling- can I do this again? In the end it doesn’t matter whether it can be done again. What matters is saying ‘yes’. How do I keep myself agitated enough in order to keep growing and not stop with what I’ve done already.”

Deep thought-provoking concepts here to reflect on. To the question: “What has success meant to you as an artist? , He replies:

“One of the most important things that showing does is that it affords opportunity to make the kind of work that you may not have made otherwise, and to work on the kind of scale that I might not have worked before.”

Extracts from: TALKING ART, Interviews with artists since 1976.Patricia Bickers, Andrew Wilson

Explaining this aside work.

Three completed works...

Why have I felt the need to work on this idea?

Interesting idea as I now feel the need for justification… I think I wanted to work on something, as if “something” wanted to come out of me. I did not think much, I just started on my making, as an intuitive thing... As I worked ideas were developed as they came along. I realised there was a flow and it was all coming fast. I decided to work on, with loads of ideas coming out, all fitting in to make sense. It was more important to concentrate on that, there was this urgency to go on. I enjoyed myself too, and I saw more ideas coming… I just could not stop…

The work quickly moved on to sequels, I bought some more materials and new canvases. This work has taken a new dimension now; I just cannot say when it is going to stop. I have six canvases size 60cm to 80cm each on which I am working on actually, three of them are what I am calling finished. I am now planning to have at least ten canvases completed as the whole work.

Why ten? Why not twenty? ... Why focusing on amount?

As I started with the sequels, there was a follow-up of what I was doing; one idea feeding onto another to emerge from and exist. I simply cannot say when to call it a finished work. I just know I will have to work on to find out. Hence, this is just all tentative right now and I cannot say in which direction all this will end up to.

This idea about creating only one work which can exist and “fill in” an entire gallery space had been an ambitious project which I had thought on in Year One. During the holiday season, I decided to give it a go as I felt more confident. I started on several canvases all at once, then realised after some time that things would have to be tidied up and polished if I really wanted to have a glimpse of how the finished outlook would look like. I am quite satisfied with the result, I feel very excited about this “unfolding” and I felt happy to have taken the initiative.

Why do I feel that there is a strong connection between this artwork and my “sculptural background”?

·   As I worked, I noticed that though I was aiming for the non-representational, I was subconsciously creating shapes and structures which I could also easily visualise as sculptures. 

·       I made use of tonal values to create the 3D effect in some aspects of the work; there was a definite suggestion on the illusion of the mass and volume present in the work.

·      The marks I was creating and concentrating on resembled the textural effects that I sought for in my sculptures.

·      At last, as I wanted some final touch on for “what comes forward”, and “what remained in the background”, I highlighted ideas as if I was doing a “patina” for a sculpture. On pondering over this way of working, I realised I was creating an individual method/ style which was different but also unique in its own way.

A Short Reflective Piece Of Writing Around The Task: Testing My Boundaries.

While summing up my experience of Task One: Testing My Boundaries, I reflected on these powerful words of Renoir: “One must from time to time attempt things that are beyond one's capacity.” -Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Trying out something totally different consequently generates new line of thoughts, some to be adopted, some to be discarded and some to be treasured for later use. For me, the whole task can be described as an opening, an uplifting experience where I was able to break my own set of rules to reach out at a more intimate and personal level. And writing about it through this essay, I feel a liberating sense of delight, in the same line as what Carl Leggo (2008) has said, that "storying"(writing about) the incident shapes up "fragments of experience" that "reminds us that there is significance in the moment, in the particular, in the mundane." 

Three different words, yet all fitting themselves to a whole: Unfolding, Unexpectedness, Uncertainty (From the book-Unfolding the Unexpectedness of Uncertainty- Anita Sinner)

Unfolding.

Before the start of the Task, I wrote down some ideas for a proposal. "The Chosen Place" was discussed as well as my aims and objectives. However, though my basic planning was in place, it was hard to start on with the project. Amongst my apprehensions was the aim I had set for myself "to bring my art to the public" and I wanted to have a clearer idea about how to process on with that. After some group consultations, I made some concrete research and started on some portraits with (coloured) pencil shading. Upon reflection, I think that this activity had nothing to with what I did at the end, however, it was still fruitful for it made me psychologically/mentally prepared for what was awaiting me. It was also a starting point, for I was subconsciously gathering ideas for myself. I clearly remembered fretting over time management as I started stressing about the process/ the course of action to orient the work from.

Unexpectedness.

I think that stress, which originates from mixed emotions as fear of the unknown, is rather a destructive overwhelming element which can distract and cause much distress and distrust in oneself ,all ending up in waste of time and energy. I often tackle stress by distancing myself from what I was focused on to other fields of interests. As I revisited the "baitka" (on my second and third visit), I really felt a positive break through. I felt confident about what I really wanted to do, especially during my third visit when I did some pen and ink sketches. On that day,while I was drawing with people all around, I really felt close to my aim "to bring art to the people" and it was then that decided to do the whole painting there itself.

 Uncertainty. The pros of such a venture.

This change of setting from my usual "studio" to on-the-spot painting was both unsettling and pleasantly adventurous. The hazardous nature of working in a different way was thrilling as I felt truthful to the place and its audience. I was breaking free from my own set of rules and patterns and creating new ones. And I remember feeling good about this idea as written afterwards in my evaluation "I personally think (I may not be right on this: maybe I need to self-analyse this part also..) that if I am getting the right "feel"on my work, then I should not be bothered about anything else." Being satisfied with what I do is very important to me. I discovered how to deal with the audience as well getting the work done at the same time and taking instant decisions. I also learnt about human relationship and made new friends. And I feel I was also able to capture the joyous feel of the space to a great extent.

 

This photograph was taken following my activities as I wanted to engage the dancers physically in what I was doing. Personally I think this is one of the most important photograph for this task. I felt the participants were able to connect to my work in different ways. Here I was dealing with the primary thing, and it all felt as a whole; also the source of my colour palette through their dresses becomes visible.   

Uncertainty. The cons of such a venture. 

I had not anticipated on the dangers of working from instant flow with no previous planning and I became really frustrated when I realised I would not be able to capture the movements of the dancing figure as she was too quick. I think this was also a good lesson about reality and time: in real life,models do not pause for paintings. Another option that I considered then was to work from photographs, however, I immediately rejected the idea as I wanted to work live with the model from the place. 

   I finally erased an important part of the work and started all over again. Looking back, I think this was an important decision at that time which made me reflect on the flexibility of painting as a technique. With painting, one can still revert back drastically and continue on. With Sculpture on the other hand, once the armature is set for any particular chosen form, the decision cannot be drastically altered. Painting in this sense offers multiple possibilities to spontaneous and personal response. With Sculpture one always need to remain in check; when building the armature, the decision is already set and aspects of the sculptural technique causes the artist to remain alert and calculating. Is there some sort of limitations here?

  Control over situations meant fighting uncertainty,vulnerability in favour of confidence.My last visit at the centre was personally a memorable one, and also an eventful one. I understood the meaning of connectivity and I felt in harmony with what I was offering to the "baitka". I analysed my feelings at the time of the placing of the work for I was offering something that felt so important to me. Was Everybody around feeling the same way? I really do not know, However I know that people around have already accepted me as one of them: I form part of their circle and what I was offering them was making some kind of meaning. Joyful faces and smiles meant encouragement: they were in favour of art.

My audience was open to change and acceptance: they had asked many questions at the time of making as they were not accustomed to abstract responses. Being an educator, I asked myself if some kind of teaching has been taking place. This was not an intentional goal, however people who are so inviting and kept an open mind for things could rapidly move on to different stages in their level of reading an artwork. They were sensitive to colours, and could understand expression and communication for some of them were performers and skilled dancers. I ended up becoming enthusiastic too. I would like to think that my whole experiment was a successful one.

Questions to myself:

1. Question: Does the opinion of the public makes a difference to me?

Answer: I think this is an important question and I have been reflecting on this at different levels. I would like to think that this whole task was really a collaboration and that the outcome had depended on their interaction to some important level.  However, I think that if the audience would have reacted in a different way,maybe my response would not have been so enthusiastic.

2. Question: Was I working to please an audience?

Answer: I definitely felt I was working out on something that would be given away and that would exist in a place around a particular audience. I was definitely working around that audience. This artwork exists mainly because of its audience.

 

Some recent Makings...

I have recently started thinking over an exhibition (maybe my solo..) as I was gathering some ideas for a painting. I wanted to have a painting by the side of a window of my living room that will be in harmony with the view side outside the window. This is the work that I have started (still unfinished..) and I was mostly inspired by the exotic landscape and colonial rooftops of existing houses..

While working, other ideas came to me and I became engrossed in it for a few days. This is just a fantastic/enjoyable experience. I wanted to work in series and I was so enthusiastic I have started painting on several canvas at a time. I am now planning to paint at least about 10 canvas (all 60cms by 80 cm)( I just hope this is not getting over ambitious..)The central ideas are to evolve around the non-object and to reflect on colours/emotions..

These are the unfinished works...

Scents from a far away island...

I think this topic came up as I was discussing ideas with Jennifer and upon reflection, I think it is an important idea to note down. 

 

SCENTS... 

 

Living on a small island, I have forever been surrounded by all kind of scents..(exotic flowers, fruits,sea breeze,first rain after sunny days,etc) However, I have never given much thought about it and it had never occurred to me before that I could explore on this possibility as an artistic experiment. I think my recent Task: Breaking Boundaries has much to do with this line of thinking. This task really led me to REFOCUS on things which I took for granted and of course to think on these ideas of BEING and PARTICIPATING as the artwork itself (This whole exercise about the investment of one's emotion into the work was really something that I enjoyed and I would like to think more about..)

As I began thinking about my art as one WHOLE project, I think literally EVERYTHING that is around me is affecting me/inspiring me to my making and changing my perception on different possibilities. Being an introvert, I think that there was a kind of fear of the unknown that has died out to give way to other possibilities, to which I can say: WHY NOT?

 

Recently someone from abroad said to me that it was nice to land up in Mauritius as she could smell the sweet scent of Mauritius. Of course, to me, this EXPERIENCE was something unknown and triggered my imagination as to how I could associate things together into an artform. I had also experienced an "eureka moment" as I was walking in a mango orchard one very hot summer day. I think at that particular moment I was thinking about SHARING (very much as a mystical experience..) 

 

 

I had also read the novel Patrick Suskind's "DAS PERFUM", a delicious book about the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meaning that scents may carry. Above all I think it all has to deal with a story which is also in line with the deep sense of identity and the self. As research, I have noted a nice quote from this link: http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/paintsound.html , which has quite a nice document on the painting of sound,noise and smell.

 

 "We do not exaggerate in claiming that smell alone is enough to create in our minds arabesques of form and colour which can constitute the motive and justify the necessity of a painting. In fact, if we are shut in a dark room (so that our sense of sight no longer functions) with flowers petrol or other strong-smelling things, our plastic spirit gradually eliminates the memory sensations and constructs particular plastic wholes whose quality of weight and movement corresponds perfectly to the smells found in the room. These smells, through an obscure process, have become an environment-force, determining that state of mind which for us Futurist painters constitutes a pure plastic whole.."