I have noticed that whenever I have to define what medium I use; that I am a painter, I can’t help but add some kind of disclaimer. For example in my last post ‘working predominately (but not exclusively) as a painter’. DON’T WORRY I DON’T JUST PAINT! Actually at the moment and for a while now I’ve just been painting and drawing.
I worry about it not being socially engaging. Though I am hoping to change that. But because I want to. Not all artists want to and nor should they have to. When I talk of ‘it’ not being socially engaging I guess I actually mean ‘me’ as an artist. In that sense the chosen medium shouldn’t matter. I also wonder how many meanings and interpretations the term ‘socially engaging’ actually has?
Perhaps the issue isn’t painting at all but that I am only using one medium. Though I think if I was solely a video artist for example, I wouldn’t find it an issue. As I explore the idea of becoming an artist facilitator I am faced with the unnecessary limitations of painting and drawing. The fact they are feared after a certain age. The belief that the only way to draw and paint is representationally. The work I reveal from my own practice doesn’t help my cause, though this too is going through a process of change. Paint can become a medium to master; trickery. It’s all too serious and closed. I’m not sure how to get around this yet.
