+90x120cm.jpg)
“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.
