When I think about emotions in art particuarly sadness I think of Rothko. Although there is not much visually in common between Rothkos art and my own, He was a leading artist in expressing his mental state visually. Rothko developed a carefully considered language of feeling using colour. Rothko wrote that he was interested only in expressing basic human emotions. He stated that there is “wild terror and suffering and blind drives and asspirations” raging within his glowing fields of pigment. He stated that “this is the way in which I could achieve the greated intensity of the tragic irreconcilability of the basic violence which lies at the bottom of human experience and the daily life that must deal with it”
Found in drafts for essay on Nietsche. James E.B Breslin archive on Mark Rothko, 1940-1993, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, acc.no.2003.M.23 (Box 17).
David Maclagan suggests that painting that “draws attention to its ‘fracture’ or material handling, dramatises its aesthetic effects” He states that “exchanges between spectators and the painting they are feeling their way into often take place at a largely unconcious level”.
He suggests that “‘feeling’ has blurred edges at both the perceptual and emotional level. There are sometimes feelings that it is impossible to situate one side or another of this categorical divide: they are also most likely to be feelings that are difficult or impossible to put into words. It may well be that painting has a particular involvement with precisely these non verbal or pre-verbal feelings.”
Davey, N (1999) ‘The Hermeneatics of seeing’ In I. Heywood and B. Sandwell (eds), ‘Interpreting Visual Culture, London: Routledge.
I think that in my own art practice I am trying to express things which are difficult to express verbally, or perhaps whilst manipulating and working with paint and other media these feelings come out involuntarily in my art work. Certain emotions create more powerful paintings.
I find that some of my best work has been produced when I have been melancholic. When I am happy I am not so inclined to make art. It is a brutal world we live in and many things are sent to try us. Empathic, sensitive and creative individuals are less able to forget the abuse of our planet, its ecosystems and people on it. It is hard not to get sad and angry about those who take whatever they want without giving anything back however without being able to do much to change the state of affairs, frustration ensues. I think the artwork which comes from this state of mind is more poignant.
It was once thought that the people of pre-history would only made artwork in times of abundance and peace. However The late Pleistocene Age (about 40,000 years ago) when much of the cave art was produced was a time of grave hardship for the Stone Age cavemen. Most of the earth was covered with glaciers and the sea level was much lower, creating many caves. The caveman’s main job was to gather food for the clan. Back then, it was hunt or be hunted. They chose to paint in caves that were often hard to reach and dark and dangerous. Their art was therefore not just for pleasure but due to some need for expression when times were hard.
This is an image from my sketch book. It depicts my mood at the time.
These images are of my work using pre-used canvases. Although I fitted all of the canvases together in order to make one long large piece of work, appox 250cm x 100cm, I decided to separate them into two smaller artworks. I have been working on them separately. I have finished one on them and these images show my finished work. I have used emulsion, pencil, oil paint and oil stick aswell as some sand. I sprinkled sand over areas of wet emulsion and then dribbled more emulsion paint on top. I then worked in some oil paint and have used oilstick on top of that. The oilstick shows up the texture of the paint and sand which has been created with different layers. Although this piece is quite busy and somewhat removed from my more minimal recent works, I am pleased with the effect and like the way that some of the previous paintings can be seen through the paint. A face can be seen which adds a slightly haunted effect to the work.
These are photos of me and my work at the private view of an exhibition called ‘Me’. My work is exhibited until the end of may at the Freudian Sheep in Ipswich.
I Started work on another piece today. I have reused canvases that I was not pleased with and put them together like pieces of a puzzle. I think that its important to try and keep as much out of landfill as possible.
So far I have covered the canvases with a layer of emulsion paint and wiped a bit off with my finger and the end of a paintbrush in order to reveal some of what was underneath. I think that it is good to have a glimpse of its former life. It will add another dimention to the finished painting.
I was unsure about using canvases with different thicknesses but I think the different levels make it more interesting. However it is hard to create a flow when there are different levels which act as a barrier to my baintbrush.
This is reminding me of a previous group project I was involved in where we made a shed out of reject works, we called it ‘Shedding Enterprise’.
Shedding Enterprise was about metamorphoses. We created a new space that could be occupied out of rejected artworks donated mainly by students at Hertfordshire University as well as a few works donated by a well known local artist. The theme of rejected artwork has been visited by artists such as Martin Kippenberger, who said that “if everything is good then nothing is any good any more”. We need to recognise what is bad in order to appreciate what is good. We create the space for change out of our mistakes.
Experimenting is a vital part of an artist’s creativity and growth. The shed could be seen as a shelter, a private space where we are free to experiment as we choose without fear of criticism from the outside world. In ‘A room of one’s own’ Virginia Woolfe says that “a lock on the door means the power to think for oneself”. We need privacy in order to express ourselves fully and freely.
The shed could also be seen as the space within the creator, a metaphor for the process of creativity. Grayson Perry, when talking about his dads shed said “It was…a powerful metaphor for creative thought. My own creativity and art practice has been a mental shed – a sanctuary as well as a place of action – where I have retreated to make things. It gives me a sense of security in a safe enclosed space while I look out the window on the world”.
Charles Traub states that “our art is the tangible manifestation of the nobility of the human will facing the unknown, but inevitable forces of life. The production of art is mans refuge from the primeval forces around him.” Therefore the act of creating artwork is a retreat in itself. Creative people often need their private space for their enterprise.
