fifty.eight-sixty.two

The same idea as before, except this time I used copper wire in lieu of pushpins and added subtle color. Maybe this set is the cheerful counterpart to the gloomy grey of the first. It's reminiscent of a Japanese print to me.

fifty.one-fifty.seven

Experiment with watercolor paper, pushpins, ink pen, staples, water, and xacto knife... I loved working on this series. I must have been feeling destructive at the time because I shoved pushpins through the back of paper, cut the paper and "stitched" it back together with staples, and added general distress with an xacto knife... so freeing. Then I added line with ink (lately I can't get away from long, sinuous lines) and blurred that with intentionally-placed, watery brushstrokes.

fifty

Completely random... The inspiration for this is from a dream that I had a few days ago. In it I was frantically studying last minute for a Stiles' Art History test (just a dream? maybe I've been there before...). One of the images that I needed to memorize was of a group of men wearing business suits in an alleyway. In lieu of human heads, however, they had colorful, gigantic smiley faces... creepy.
In my dream, the only colors present were muted and hushed. That places the dream close to the nightmare category for me, because the only nightmare I’ve ever had was in grainy black and white, like an old silent film. In fact, that nightmare was the only time I’ve ever dreamed without color. Any psychological analysis for this weird dream?

i'm still alive...

Been painting quite a bit today... but I'll have to save posting for tomorrow. Right now I can't form coherent sentences due to the lateness of the hour.
I'll leave you with a small preview...

forty.nine

My use of line is influenced by (1. calligraphy, one of my loves and (2. Art Nouveau, another one of my loves. See Victor Horta or
Aubrey Beardsley or Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh

forty.eight

The addition of water to the pen creates interesting shades of grey.
I'd like to play with this more.
Early on I had condemned this drawing to failure and labeled it as such because I didn't like where it was headed. I kept adding line and shape, however, in an attempt to save it (and because I was sitting through a particularly long recital). I suppose the end result isn't a complete failure...

forty.seven

These are a bit too cartoon-ish for formal painting, as the emphasis is definitely on line rather than shape and color. Maybe I can expand on the use of calligraphic line in more "serious" work at some point.

forty.six

These past few days I've been in classes, masterclasses, and recitals almost continuously, so these sketches are the result of me trying to stay occupied and awake during those... I added paint to a few of them later for shading/emphasis, but I'm not sure that I like it.

forty.five

"It is only too true that a lot of artists are mentally ill – it’s a life which, to put it mildly, makes one an outsider. I’m all right when I completely immerse myself in work, but I’ll always remain half crazy."
Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch Post-Impressionist

I find this quote humorous...maybe a bit disconcerting. Is it just artists who are the crazy ones or is everyone half-crazy, uncertain, and abnormal (whatever "normal" is, thanks Rosemary). Perhaps artists are merely the ones who take the time and are vulnerable enough to share their craziness with the weary world.

Kitsch vs. Cool

Confession of the day – I love Kitsch art. There’s something so wrong about it… yet so incredibly appealing at the same time. But am I even allowed to say “Kitsch Art”? Is kitsch Art or is it merely… Kitsch? Artlex, an online art dictionary, defines Kitsch as “Art characterized by vapidly sentimental, often pretentious poor taste. It is typically clumsy, repetitive, cheesy, and slickly commercial.” Another definition says, “In contrast to genuine artwork, kitsch leaves no room for interpretation. It represents no innovation or originality… it is clichéd and stereotypical, while also being easily reproducible.” Yet how does one decide what constitutes “poor taste”? And what is “genuine artwork”? No one knows just how to define Kitsch, yet, according to Stephen Lacey of The Age, Australia, “Even if we struggle to define it, most of us know what it is when we see it. Kitsch is your grandmother's garden gnome with the little bamboo fishing rod, it's the doe-eyed-children prints from the 1950s, and it's the knitted toilet-roll dolly at the Country Women's Association stall.”

So is kitsch Art? I think there’s been a trend in the design world toward kitschy objects… encouraged by the modern vintage craze, witnessed in tacky wallpaper and retro furniture, the resurgence of avocado green and harvest gold... So when is art “bad” kitsch that should only be seen in flea markets or garage sales, and when is art “good” kitsch that deserves to be analyzed and enjoyed as a serious art form? Was Rococo art the Kitsch of the 18th century? The Rococo style of art was sentimental, over-the-top, and often superficial – characteristics that coincide with the definitions of Kitsch stated previously. In a gilded frame hanging on the wall of an art museum, The Swing by Fragonard says one thing. Viewers analyze it as Art. However, the same scene painted on a white ceramic tile in your grandmother’s bathroom communicates something entirely different…that setting causes the “kitschy-ness” of the painting to shine through.


I wonder if even Dada and Pop Art have elements of Kitsch. Maybe the art of Duchamp and Warhol is Kitsch with consciousness – an intentional parody on popular objects. I believe that one distinguishing trait between good and bad Kitsch is purpose… based upon whether the artist consciously creates Art or merely imitates blindly, without much thought. Perhaps Kitsch can be informed by good design and thus elevate itself to “fine art” status. Or maybe even if the art is designed poorly and is cheaply sentimental, it can still be “fine art” if the poor design is purposeful. Kitsch art in the modern context should compel viewers to reevaluate their perceptions of “Art” and their views of cliché objects. Perhaps the Kitsch that I enjoy is modern Kitsch – not of the Thomas Kinkade variety, but of the bright-pink-cuckoo-clock variety. Thomas Kinkade paints his kitschy subjects seriously… bereft of humor or irony. I enjoy kitsch that is tongue-in-cheek art, jabbing fun at “high art” idolatry…having self-conscious bad taste…making me see an everyday object in a way that I never have before… art that is cynical and tacky. To me a bright pink cuckoo clock or wallpaper emblazoned with images of the queen is just plain hilarious. Those are examples of Kitsch that makes me think, and that is Art to me.

Check out this gallery of images
also, see the work of the "king of kitsch", Jeff Koons

Kitsch = Cool ...or definitely not. What do you think?

forty.four

Here's a random website where the artist has challenged himself to "make something cool everyday"... I love his playfulness and his creativity in using everyday objects.

forty.three

Continuing the cardboard series. These paintings have been darker than usual... reflection of stress? uncertainty? Tonight I accompanied Brahms' Violin Sonata No.1 at a friend's recital. It is the most challenging accompaniment I've played to date... including nearly 30 minutes of frantic sixteenth notes and crazy Brahmsian rhythms.
In the days before performances I always freak out and have dark thoughts with feelings of inadequacy and doubt. During performances my mind is super-alert so every sensation is greatly magnified. My thoughts are scattered and frantic - keep the triplets even, I have a test tomorrow, why didn't he text, don't rush those measures, crap it's hot in here, I miss the beach, bring out the melody, the piano is dusty ... Anxiety does weird things to people. I think these paintings have been a needed outlet for some of that apprehension.
... All of that in an attempt to explain my inspiration of late. Not always visual but often based upon experiences... abstract snapshots of life.

revisions

These two paintings were bothering me because they lacked a clear focal point. I tried to bring more focus to them through the addition of paint and distress to the cardboard... successful?
Hopefully so, because there's no going back now... : )

forty.two

"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."

Francis Bacon, Irish-born British Expressionist painter

forty.one

Current Loves = Munch//Chagall//Francis Bacon
Willem de Kooning//Egon Schiele

forty

This one didn't photograph so well... actually each one in this series looks better in person because the 3dimensional aspect of the shredded cardboard doesn't translate well to photos.

thirty.nine

"For me, painting is a way to forget life.
It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh."

Georges Rouault, French Fauvist and Expressionist painter

thirty.eight

Though I've been negligent in posting this week, I have been painting... working on a series of "faces" - subtle or overt - on cardboard panels. The black and white are applied indiscriminately while the color is painted over top with more intention...a mixture of spontaneity and planning. This process is enjoyable for me because, while I do have some control, much of the end result is a surprise. The faces are unplanned and usually just "pop out" from wherever I apply the color.

thirty.seven

There is a knocking in the skull,
An endless silent shout
Of something beating on a wall,
And crying, "Let me out!"

That solitary prisoner
Will never hear reply.
No comrade in eternity
Can hear the frantic cry.

No heart can share the terror
That haunts his monstrous dark.
The light that filters through the chinks
No other eye can mark.

When flesh is linked with eager flesh,
And words run warm and full,
I think that he is loneliest then,
The captive in the skull.

Caught in a mesh of living veins,
In cell of padded bone,
He loneliest is when he pretends
That he is not alone.

We'd free the incarcerate race of man
That such a doom endures
Could only you unlock my skull,
Or I creep into yours.

Listen...
Ogden Nash

thirty.six

I think I'll need to revisit this one at some point...it lacks a focal point. The tea-stained paper is probably my favorite part since it adds subtle texture under the paint.

thirty.five

I've been questioning Art (as well as all of life...)
quite a bit lately... why art? what is it? it's purpose?
"What is art, but a sheath temporarily capturing life;
too strong to stop, too sweet to lose" ...Willa Cather

Spring Break...

Spring Break in Florida this year. Miss it already!
I will resume posting soon, hopefully with inspiration from my week of sand-filled, wonderfully unproductive days as a beach bum...