Lost -encaustic, collage, cyanotype and van dyke prints, charcoal, vellum
Landscape With I Ching -encaustic, sumi ink, vegetable oil, image transfer, oil pigments
“The purpose of art is to keep us perpetually off balance.”- John Baldessari
When it comes to visual art, I make a conscious effort to let go of what I know and not keep doing what I do well. Randomness is interesting to me. There is always a great surprise in store for me when I work randomly- and so much in the final work that doesn't make sense and therefore a lot more peculiarity to ponder. Ridiculousness and absurdity are very good things when it comes to art.
I enjoy art exercises that explore energy, frequency and vibration, exercises that can capture these qualities.... when I lived in the city I loved to draw while I was on the subway, sometimes I would hold the pen perpendicular to the paper, not look down just straight ahead and let the pen record the bumpy motion and the stop and go of the subway car.
Other exercises I experiment with, capture data from the subconscious. I don’t do this one often enough, for good reason, but the results are always interesting, I place a drawing pad and something to draw with next to the bed, set my alarm for 3:00am, and as I wake up, immediately start drawing without turning the light on.
In the wonderful, wonderful amorphous world of art, being in a place of unclarity is a very cherished and desireable place to be, murkiness is active and alive, it’s where germination begins and opens up new ideas of thought.
Here's a damn good quote from Robert Rauschenberg, “If you’re in front of a good work of art and you don’t change your mind about something, you’re a fool.”
I wouldn't, in my own words, say that anybody is a fool, but I get what he's saying, it's not always about whether we can relate or not, whether we like it or not. Even if we don't like the work, or should I say, especially if we don't like it, we still look for things about it that presents something new, unfamiliar, off-kilter or even offensive to our thought pattern and our psyche. Good art opens the mind, refines our tolerance and helps us to be better thinkers.
