I am currently working on a painting of the man in one of my photographs, posted below, and as I become increasingly frustrated by the textures of his clothing, I'm asking myself, "Annie, why did you choose a subject who's image is 90% clothing and 10% face, when you like painting expressions and faces?" I then realize that the other two pieces in this tiny series also have tricky textures, meaning I had made this daring decision to paint full figures in all of their splendid khaki and denim, months ago.
Why am I choosing to paint so many features that I don't like to paint?
Well, besides the fact that, in theory, I will improve my technique through shady fabrics (I wanted that to be a pun, but I think it just might just be an appropriate adjective), I want something more out of these paintings than the process. I came to this idea through an artist whom I greatly admire, John Baldessari. John Baldessari believed that art was meant to achieve a final purpose that was less about the process and more about the final message or state. I agree with this. While I love art because it's a relaxing and creative outlet, I care about the final perceived idea.
I recently learned about a form of dance, called Gaga, that is purely about the way that the dance feels while you are doing it. And, like yoga or meditation, it feels great! It's really fun to dance in a way that only subscribes to a form and a method that you make in the process of doing it. But, I think that that is a different kind of art. It's therapeutic and it's educational, but it's personal and not communicative.
So, I realized that I didn't decide to paint the tricky pants and the frustrating jacket because it was going to be relaxing. I chose to paint them because I knew that the image of the man standing on the street holding an unidentifiable box was the idea that I wanted to show people. And, while it may stress me out and slow me down, I now realize that my mission in art is to see my ideas happen in their finality, and that I'll have to relax with Milano cookies and 30 Rock at another time.
A piece by John Baldessari:
A piece by John Baldessari:
John Baldessari is popping up in your art once again! Yes, I know you can be in the middle of a painting thinking 'why did I do this to myself?' But so far, your end results have been pretty successful.
ReplyDeleteI was excited to see that the process of assembling the canvases went well. I'm going to pick up some more wood and hanging fixtures for you so that you can start to work on the rest. We want them all assembled before April 30th!