Last post I wrote about Painting Without a Rudder. This post I’m happy to report that I’m finding my way.
It’s still all somewhat unexpected (in terms of my practice) but at least now the internal logic of what I’m doing is becoming clearer.
Mine is a politically engaged practice, albeit focused on a historical example of fascism (the Spanish Civil War). Yet increasingly I find contemporary events to be redolent of those past and my work must veer a little to encompass this.
And so the phenomenon of creating work I don’t quite recognise occurs – and that’s the point.
I’m creating landscapes that feel new and not like me – and this is precisely because I no longer recognise my world. We’re presently living through a time of political crisis and these strange paintings (strangers to me at least) have been conjured as a direct response.
I truly believe that painting can be a political act in itself. I need to be brave about these works (my impulse is to paint over them and create something more me!) and go with what’s emerging.
And in trying to arrive at a greater understanding I’ve turned to another form…
So I drib and dab
at scraps of linen
stretched on
solid wooden frames
in my studio.
I go at it
and stand back.
I squint and squint
turn lights on and off.
This is my body politics
because…
I need action.
To make is to shake off
I say!
What?
Stupid I know
but I squint and squint
because this is my job.
I imagine spaces
not real…
And spaces impossible
where you
do not exist.
Because painting
in dribs and dabs
is not not real.
In the moment of action
I am painting.
© Sonia Boué 2017
