UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #83

“Rejuvenation” (Satsang Series)

 (Acrylic) 

Size:  90x120cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:

A friend used these words to describe my art: “You make it possible for others to reach their subconscious in such an enlightening and yet gentle, whispering way – you embed images of life, love, hope and beauty in their psyches”.  It is always gratifying when someone reflects back to you just what you are trying to achieve – particularly when the concept is not being conveyed in words such as in the case of paintings.

Art making is a life’s work and in fact one’s life becomes the work of art.  This week I had the good fortune to see one of Australia’s top artists being interviewed during the Noosa Long Weekend Festival.  The artist is Michael Leunig.  I call him an artist and also a National Treasure.  However some would call him a cartoonist.  Nevertheless Leunig has been able to convey a “naive wisdom” through his cartoons a bit like Charlie Chaplin conveyed “naive wisdom” through his humour and acting ability.

During the course of the interview, Leunig commented that sadly older artists in Australia are not very well received.  I would agree with what he is saying.  Painting, unlike sport, is an activity that generally improves with age.  Artists like Monet and Olley are such examples.  It takes a life time to be able to call yourself an artist, but when you get to the end of your life, marketing principles that are currently employed in this economic milieu do not see maturity as a viable asset (because the older artist no longer looks good and nor do they have not the productivity expectation that a younger artist would have).  Therefore it is really gratifying when a viewer is congruent with an artist, as was my friend was with me.  A painting may also take years to complete but the viewer often only takes a minute or two to make a snap judgement on that art work.

“Rejuvenation” is one of the last of the Satsang Series.  It was painted after I returned from India.  The Satsang Series is about meditation, however this painting and its twin, “Rejoice” were painted at a time when I was also becoming concerned with environmental issues.  Both paintings reflect a transition period in my art career.  Later my focus for painting changed to being less esoteric. 

Art Techniques used to achieve this:

The genre for “Rejuvenation” is Spiritual (not Religious).  It is part of the Satsang Series and could perhaps be described as Esoteric.  The Satsang Series is about stillness.  Each painting in the series represents meditation.  Meditation has been practiced in the East for thousands of years.  It is a type of spiritual philosophy which is part of the process of living and operates around the concept of “being” with a focus on the Now. The Western world is more involved with a conference of ideas and a concept of “doing” and its focus is on the future.

“Rejuvenation” is a meditation in which thoughts move in and out of consciousness and are observed with no judgement.  This brings about a sense of timelessness.

I do not sign my paintings for two reasons.  Firstly because by signing I am indicating which way the painting should be hung.  In this series I have purposely made the composition balanced from all sides, so it is up to the viewer to decide which way they like it.  Secondly, by signing an art piece, I put my “stamp” on it thus stating ownership.  This series is not about ownership but is depicting just “being in the Now”.  Therefore it can be said that its composition is fairly arbitrary but intuitively balanced.

Its form is two dimensional – no attempt at perspective. Its colour palette is complimentary ie. orange and blue.

Next week I will discuss “Rejoice” which is the twin to “Rejuvenation”.  They are not a diptych but both are similar in that they represent a transitory stage in my art and the close of the Satsang Series. 

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