Jill Christian
Residency Summary
Advisor: Deborah Davidson
1 February 2010
Residency Summary – January 2010 – Group 2
Three major issues or areas of focus came to the fore during this residency: the need to do more work and become a better painter, the need to think more conceptually about my work, the need to find more contemporary painters to help situate myself in the present as an artist. (Wisely, someone also suggested: work hard, think hard, but don’t mentally defeat yourself.)
Opinions about which paintings worked best were split between the three types of work I brought: the figurative/gestural, the sticks/still lifes, and the looser abstract paintings. While I agree that working off the sticks as a formal vehicle is a method I will continue to use, I felt that Laurel Sparks correctly assessed that slowing down really is fighting against my nature. She also felt that there was strength in the paintings where I was able to be more inventive and risky in the arrangement of marks and range of application. The stick paintings are a good, but they also have a quality of being consistent and of “working within parameters”. Laurel suggested that I do paintings with much less material and fewer elements--slow down the call and response and the decision-making, but with very little information. I need to get myself away from the habitual way that I’m applying paint. It was a suggested that I work in polarities and disorient myself: make something that is too small for its space and something that is too big for its space. I feel that it is important for me to work in both directions this coming semester: continue with the stick paintings, and also experiment with drawing using alternative tools, and creating abstractions that translate photographs or other visual sources.
Related to this, a number of people suggested that I seem very rooted in modernism and the traditional medium-specific mindset of painting and that I need to get current and think in terms of what issues painters are working with today. I need to expand my reference beyond what I know, which is essentially abstract art before 1970 or so. Three areas to focus on are: history, theory, and whom am I connecting with right now. It was suggested that I start thinking about my work in terms of what theory it relates to, how I situate myself in relation to history, and start building a critique of my work within a contemporary context. It was suggested that I read, among other things, Frank Stella and Ed Ruscha.
More than one person said that I need to be more intellectual and conceptual about the work. There needs to be a philosophy and concept behind my art. Otherwise, it’s just about formal issues and personal preferences. It was suggested I ask the questions: “Why am I a painter?” “What is my relationship to the paint?” “What kind of surface do I want to end up with?” It was even suggested that before I sit down to do another painting, I think long and hard about these questions. Other advice suggested that I just get down to painting and let what comes naturally to me be my guide—experiment and do a LOT of painting. Laurel suggested that I focus directly on the painting process and figure out what “gets me there” so that I can paint in a way that I want to paint. I believe that I need to work with both issues at once. Stefan suggested to get out, sketch/journal daily; eventually patterns will emerge and become evident. This is a great way to allow my interests and work to lead my thinking. I appreciated the talk on “The Cult of the Personality” as well as Tony Apesos’s and Vincent Desiderios's talks, in part because of how these illuminated the ways in which the sources of ones ideas and ways of work – the decisions and choices one makes as an artist – are profoundly personal and reflect ones background, cultures, education, personal history, etc.
In the studio, I plan to make a lot of smaller pieces this semester, allowing myself to work fast. Some will be a continuation of my work with the still life, and will include a series of drawings with Sumi ink. I also plan to experiment with both filling up and emptying out the space in the canvas, experimenting with contents being too small / too big for the space, asking myself the question, “how do I make a painting out of very little? Out of a lot? Constanze suggested that I think about the medium I’m using – and try to think in a less medium-specific way. She suggested that I look at Rosalind Krauss’s book, Voyage on the North Sea, which I have begun reading. Some of Stefan’s suggestions related to this, including: construct collages of “the feelings”; create objects and work with ideas that represent a feeling; do some works completely without subject (but think about what your ideas are). It was also suggested that I do tonal studies, try new mark-making tools (sticks, hardware brushes (would give soft/diffuse marks), finger painting (the idea of pushing feeling through your hands). Other suggestions included drawing more, and considering monotypes.
Areas of research suggested include looking at artists who work with “overwhelming” means, versus artists that deal with economy of means (e.g., Agnes Martin – though I feel I need to also find much more contemporary artists). I am also interested in investigating the Baroque as it relates to today’s excess of imagery. I found a quote by Jaoa Ribas who said: “I’m also interested in a new internalism in painting, a solipsistic, hermetic formalism—Richard Aldrich coming out of Raoul De Keyser—an approach that’s contemplative rather than literal” (Douglas, Sarah. Field Guide: Interview with Joao Ribas. Modern Painters. February 2010. 16-17). I think this “hermetic formalism” might be one interesting avenue to explore and compare with other work that’s more related to saturated imagery and the digital.
Finally, Laurel gave me the advice to just be more confident and to start to learn to locate myself in terms of what I accept and what I reject. I was told that I work hard, I’m open to experimenting with new ideas, and so now I need to challenge myself to “know what I believe, and know what I reject” for my own work. And to also distinguish what I love that someone else is doing, but is not part of what my own work is about.
This upcoming semester I hope to work really hard and break out of some of the conventions and ways of thinking that are holding me back. As Laurel so aptly said in one of our talks, “Well, it’s not like you can do that just overnight. It’s a project.”
Below is a summary of other suggestions and lists of artists to look, books to read, and exhibitions to research (and see if possible).
Artists
Richard Aldrich (http://www.marcfoxx.com/artist/view/1411)
Kristin Baker (Carol)
Robert Bordo (Laurel)
Marcel Broodthaers [Belgian, 1924-1976] (Constanze)
Cheryl Donegan (Laurel)
Howard Hodgkins (Laurel)
Jacqueline Humphries (Laurel)
Raoul De Keyser (Laurel, Constanze)
Per Kirkeby (Hannah) (http://www.michaelwerner.com/artist_8_main_1.htm)
Michael Krebber (Constanze) [http://greenenaftaligallery.com/artist/Michael-Krebber]
Brice Marden
Agnes Martin (Deborah)
Julie Mehretu (Oliver)
Georgio Morandi (Laurel)
Carrie Moyers (Deborah)
Albert Oehlin (Constanze)
Jackson Pollock
David Reed (Constanze)
Sterling Ruby (Carol)
Ed Ruscha (Rob)
Robert Ryman (Laurel)
Tiepolo (Jan)
Cy Twombly (Hannah)
Charline von Heyl (Laurel, Jan)
John Walker (Hannah) (shows at Nielsen/Boston; Kohdler/NY)
Reading
Bois, Yve Alain. Paining As Model.
Fer, Briony. On Abstract Art.
Freid, Michael. Theatricality in the arts.
Friedlander, Walter. Mannerism and Anti-Mannerism.
Godfrey, Tony. Painting Today.
Krauss, Rosalind. The Originality of the Avant Garde and Other Myths.
Krauss, Rosalind. Voyage on the North Sea.
Kuh, Katharine. Break-Up: The Core of Modern Art.
Kuh, Katharine. The Artist's Voice: Talks With Seventeen Modern Artists (2000).
Martin, J.R. Baroque.
Nickas, Bob. Painting Abstraction: New Elements in Abstract Painting.
Saccoccio, Jackie. What State Abstraction. BombLog (http://www.bombsite.powweb.com?p=6139)
Sarup, Madan. An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism.
Stella, Frank. Working Space.
Magazines
Modern Painters
Art in America
October
Shows/Online
Affinities:Painting in Abstraction, curated by Kate McNamara, CCS Bard College, Annandale-on Hudson
Bad Painting/Good Art, (exhibit, June 2008) MUMOK Vienna
Besides, With, Against, And Yet: Abstraction and The Ready-Made Gesture. The Kitchen. Nov. 11-Jan. 16, 2010. New York, NY. http://www.thekitchen.org/
Susan Rothenberg: A Particular Perspective (Jan. 22-May 16 2010, GOK Museum/Santa Fe).
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, December 7, 2009
 |
| From December painting and sources |
12"x12", acrylic on canvas board
My mentor, Page Coleman, suggested that I try rendering the sticks -- trying to really get the shapes and closely investigate the colors. So, I worked on pulling out the thin branch in the center. I'm resisting making something recognizable. Still, this is a good exercise. I may even try a more representational series of sketches to see where that goes.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Semester 1 Summary
Jill Christian
Advisor: Laurel Sparks
Semester 1 Summary
1 December 2009
Semester 1 Summary – Mixed Bags
This first semester has, I think, been successful, but not in any way I’d imagined back in June. I left the first residency with enthusiasm, planning to complete at least 12 paintings (I envisioned large). I was going to set up arbitrary rules and use a timer to force myself to switch brushes, colors, or techniques. I was going to work on a single painting for 30-days, and see what happened to myself and the painting over time. I was going to experiment with scale, proportions, distortion, and asymmetry. Instead, I experienced a series of frustrating dead-ends and blocks. And so I’ve returned to working smaller and on “the basics” of painting. This has led to a bit of a break through and I anticipate working this way for the next several months, and into next semester.
The first two months of the semester I began three large canvases, each exploring three different ideas. I had on my mind not only to shake up my mark-making, but to explore my “idiosyncrasies” – a recommendation from the residency. Specifically, I set out to explore what I found attractive in Baroque painting, selecting an image of a Rubens painting to examine and use as a jumping off point. I also stumbled upon a book of Indian Miniatures and decided to explore these color schemes (I later read that Amy Sillman also points to this source as an early influence in color choice). At the same time, I started working off of photographs of flowers and plants – specifically from my recent trip to Kauai.
One result was my “30-day painting.” It began as a painting of an abstracted flower. Then, I introduced elements taken from a photo of bathers on a beach. On top of that, I painted forms referencing an Indian miniature. It became a bit unruly. I found this painting particularly frustrating because it felt new every time I worked on it. I wasn’t sure where it was going, other than it would last for 30-days. The most successful of the larger paintings was the one based on the Rubens painting. I have for now put aside these three paintings as well as the larger format.
I discovered in late August, with my mentor’s help, that I had taken on multiple projects, and that I was still working in the same way as before: fast, all-over compositions, all on the surface mark-making, and unresolved color. She felt that I might be better off focusing on technical issues, working smaller, and restricting myself in subject matter. She recommended that I work on painting fundamentals. Specific issues that need to be addressed are: color; figure/ground and spatial relationships; subject matter/source material; the ability to sustain a painting over multiple painting sessions; recognizing when a painting is working or not working; and being realistic about personal time and energy constraints.
I tried (though I rebelled frequently) to work in a reduced palette. I stopped even trying to make paintings. I switched to working on paper and did a number of really small, quick abstract color studies – just colors and shapes.
A breakthrough came with three events: I took a two-day color theory workshop, I wrote a paper that focused on the role subject matter plays in the work of several artists I’m interested in, and I decided to focus on painting sticks. After witnessing me working from a ton of different reference materials – mostly photographs – my mentor and I thought that it would be best to paint from a primary source – ideally from nature. And, noticing that many artists set up projects for themselves (i.e., Amy Sillman drawing couples for the work that ended up in her Third Person Singular exhibit), I began collecting sticks. I’ve been doing a lot of walking in the Bosque along the Rio Grande, and I’m fascinated by the shimmery grays and golden hues in these broken, piled up Cottonwood branches scattered in the woods. There’s a subtle beauty in the colors resulting from varied states of desiccation and sun-and-weather fade. More than anything, the connection with nature re-energized me, and finding a single thing to paint felt like a lifeline.
So, finally in this last month I feel that I’ve hit on a subject that will allow me to paint “something” while working on technical issues of color and pictorial space. I began a number of 12x12” studies of the sticks that I will continue through December. I think that working in this way will do two things: allow me to work quickly and complete a number of paintings—which I find satisfying; and also really explore this subject matter. I also am trying out painting on artist panels, and I have found that I like working on the hard, smooth surface – a surprise. On the first pass, there is almost a sense of there being a resist on the surface, and there’s an opportunity to work with underglazes before I begin putting down thick strokes. It was recommended that I try oils; but after a couple muddy attempts, I’ve decided to stay with what I know for awhile. One thing that has intrigued me is that these little studies of stick piles end up looking like landscapes. I like the idea of a part, closely-focused, resembling the whole.
In these studies, my mentor has suggested that I work on my color vocabulary – really look at the colors in the grays and spend time mixing and selecting color schemes. I am also going to try different painting tools and vary the surface qualities. Another commitment is to spend more time on each painting. This continues to be a major stumbling block for me. I have a real palpable distaste for going back. I like to work quickly and move on. My mentor suggested that I need to learn to recognize the problems that need to be worked out in a painting, and to know when it’s “finished”. I am getting a sense that I have a need to “discharge” some kind of energy as I work. I spend a lot of time in my head, thinking about things, and then I shoot them out. I am experimenting with giving myself permission to do quick one-offs on paper, if I need a break. I may need to find a way to work this almost physiological need into my studio practice at the same time I learn to work longer on a painting and to go back and edit.
My reading this semester has been all about abstract painting (though I have been reading a bit in more general areas as well). A recurring theme to critiques of my work is that it seems to be an “adaptation of a pre-existing style”, rather than a result of an inquiry. Though I do understand this conceptually, when I look at any one specific painting, what this looks like and means becomes less clear. So, I’ve been finding more contemporary references (beyond De Kooning, Mitchell, and Pollock) in order to start to think more expansively about what abstract painting can be about--to understand abstract painting as more than a style that continually refers back to the 1920s to 1970s (in my case specifically to New York school abstract expressionism). My major challenge with the reading is that I want to read everything. Like with my painting, I can tend to get a number of texts going at the same time, and I would like to be more focused and disciplined, particularly with making sure that I take time to write summaries of the readings. I particularly struggled with Briony Fer’s On Abstract Art. As I was reading, it made sense, but I have difficulty re-articulating her major points. I found a “critical reading worksheet for texts from art and theory” from an art history course, and I am going to use it to organize my reading and note-taking.
Two things that I find very challenging with the low-residency MFA program are pacing the work and the lack of peer interaction. On my agenda for next semester (see footnote) is to be more disciplined with scheduling the work I need to do each month. At the beginning of the semester, I had a very difficult time working 40 hours at my office, parenting, and getting in the minimum hours for the MFA program. In September, I negotiated a 32-hour work-week with my employer. This has made a huge difference. Still, I feel like I am adjusting to find the right scheduling rhythm. I have been looking for ways to meet other artists and students. Taking the color theory class helped. The teacher offered to help introduce me to other art students and through her I heard about graduate reviews at The University of New Mexico. I connected with two students and we’re looking for a time to get together after the holidays. I also want to see more exhibits locally. This can be challenging given my current schedule, but remains a goal for next semester.
Footnote
List of things to work on and improve for next semester:
Collection of tear sheets from magazines, books, or fabric that have palettes that interest me, with attention to the ratio of warm to cool, light to dark, vivid to muted in these palettes / do some studies based on these.
Journal. Looking back, I wish that I had more consistently journaled after each day of painting. I have lots of scraps of paper that I wrote notes on, but I feel being more systematic and organized would be very helpful. I am going to begin to do this now at the end of the semester, and continue it through next semester.
Struggle with “going back”. I paint intensely for a while and then really don’t want to go back to the same painting. Trying out the 30-day painting was challenging, because it really became a different painting every time – different shapes, colors, ideas. I found it to be exhausting and draining. It might be interesting to try this again, but smaller and using a very specific source.
Refer back to notes and my agenda. This can serve as a kind of “beacon” for me. I need to allow for spontaneity, discovery, and change, but I have a strong tendency to move quickly from one thing to the next, and my mind is always busy. The thing to watch for is the tendency to move on before I can fully explore something, or decisively decide to abandon it for something else. I’ve been doing some career coaching, which involved some pretty extensive aptitude testing. I tested quite high in “idea flow” and “diagnostic reasoning”. These two things combine to make me apt to move from one thing to the next (jack of all trades, master of none) and to be highly self-critical. I need to keep aware of this and make sure to note my successes. Goals and agenda are a good tool for this.
Commentary/suggestions from Laurel: “I just want to emphasize that intuition plays a very strong role for many abstract painters. Keep trusting your instincts, while taking more time to reflect upon what you have done. Let the work be your teacher at the same time as you impose structure.”
“…Continue mining the topic of what it means to be making abstract expressionist paintings in 2009. The premise for the UCLA Hammer show Oranges and Sardines is based on dialogue among contemporary abstract painters and their influences. If you haven't picked up the book from that show, I strongly encourage you to do so.”
“Focus directly on the painting process and allow meaning and content to emerge in retrospect. Imposing subject matter can often restrict the work before it ever gets the chance to BE anything.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Artists Researched
Daniel Brice
Cecily Brown
Mary Heilmann
Udo Noger
Jackson Pollock
Amy Sillman
Charline von Heyl
Books read
Ashton, Dore. Cecily Brown/Des Moines Art Center Catalogue. New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc, 2008. Print.
Batchelor, David, Chromophobia.
Dimand, Maurice. Indian Miniatures. New York: Crown Publishers/The Folio Art Books, ?year. Print.
Elkins, James. What Painting Is.
Emmerling, Leonhard. Jackson Pollock 1912-1956: At the Limit of Painting,. Koln: TASCHEN, 2009. Print.
Garrels, Gary. Oranges and Sardines: Conversations on Abstract Painting (exhibition catalog). Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2008. Print.
Gibson, Add Eden. Abstract Expressionism: Other Politics.
Howard Hodgkin, Nicolas Serota ed.
Jackson Pollock: New Approaches, Kirk Varnedoe ed.
John Currin Selects. Boston: MFA Publications, 2003.
Perry, Vicky. Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2007. Print.
Schwabsky, Barry. Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting.
Scribner III, Charles. Rubens. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1989. Print.
Tuchmann, Maurice, et. al. The Impact of Chaim Soutine (1893-1943): De Kooning, Pollock, Dubuffet, Bacon. Galerie Gmurzynska. ISBN 377579103.
Varnedoe, Kirk. Pictures of Nothing.
The Abstract Impulse: 50 Years of Abstraction at the National Academy, 1956-2006, Marshall N. Price
Books in process
Bois, Yve-Alain. Painting as Model.
Fer, Briony. On Abstract Art.
Rosenthal, Mark. Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1996. Print.
“Want to read”
Art History Versus Aesthetics. James Elkins, ed.
Nickas, Bob. Painting Abstraction: New Elements in Abstract Painting.
Godfrey, Tony. Painting Today.
Krauss, Rosalind. The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Myths.
Elkins, James. Why Art Cannot Be Taught.
Sarup, Madan. An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism.
Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader.
Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction.
Albers Josef. Interaction of Color.
Mayer, Musa. Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston. New York: Da Capo Press.1997. Print.
Ashton, Dore. American Art Since 1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Articles (partial list)
Barliant, Claire and Christopher Turner. “Painting Paradox.” Modern Painters, Summer 2009.
Bell, Kirsty. “It’s Own Reality.” Frieze, May 2009: 92-97 Print.
Green, Tyler. Modern Art Notes: Amy Sillman at the Hirshhorn. Web. http://www.artsjournal.com/man/2008/04/amy_sillman_at_the_hirshorn.html.
Rubenstein Raphael. “Provisional Painting”. Art in America, May 2009 122-135.
Letham Jonathan. “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism.” Harper’s Magazine, 59-71.
Von Heyl, Charline. “1000 Words: Charline von Heyl Talks About Sabotage, 2008.” ArtForum, October 2009: 330-339. Print.
Videos/Documentaries/Discussions
Alice Neel
Art 21 (Seasons 1 and 2)
Ayers, Leslie. “Graduate Review.” University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. 6 Nov. 2009. Discussion.
Hammer series; Oranges and Sardines
Heilmann, Mary. Art: 21 - Mary Heilmann. PBS. Web. 1 Nov. 2009.
Sillman, Amy. “A Conversation with Amy Sillman.” Hirshhorn podcast. Web. 25 Oct. 2009..
Exhibits
Albuquerque Now, The Albuquerque Museum
Udo Noger, Gerbert Contemporary
Daniel Brice, Chiaroscuro Gallery
Phillis Ideal, Chiaroscuro Gallery
Magazines
Modern Painters
Art in America
Harper’s
Advisor: Laurel Sparks
Semester 1 Summary
1 December 2009
Semester 1 Summary – Mixed Bags
This first semester has, I think, been successful, but not in any way I’d imagined back in June. I left the first residency with enthusiasm, planning to complete at least 12 paintings (I envisioned large). I was going to set up arbitrary rules and use a timer to force myself to switch brushes, colors, or techniques. I was going to work on a single painting for 30-days, and see what happened to myself and the painting over time. I was going to experiment with scale, proportions, distortion, and asymmetry. Instead, I experienced a series of frustrating dead-ends and blocks. And so I’ve returned to working smaller and on “the basics” of painting. This has led to a bit of a break through and I anticipate working this way for the next several months, and into next semester.
The first two months of the semester I began three large canvases, each exploring three different ideas. I had on my mind not only to shake up my mark-making, but to explore my “idiosyncrasies” – a recommendation from the residency. Specifically, I set out to explore what I found attractive in Baroque painting, selecting an image of a Rubens painting to examine and use as a jumping off point. I also stumbled upon a book of Indian Miniatures and decided to explore these color schemes (I later read that Amy Sillman also points to this source as an early influence in color choice). At the same time, I started working off of photographs of flowers and plants – specifically from my recent trip to Kauai.
One result was my “30-day painting.” It began as a painting of an abstracted flower. Then, I introduced elements taken from a photo of bathers on a beach. On top of that, I painted forms referencing an Indian miniature. It became a bit unruly. I found this painting particularly frustrating because it felt new every time I worked on it. I wasn’t sure where it was going, other than it would last for 30-days. The most successful of the larger paintings was the one based on the Rubens painting. I have for now put aside these three paintings as well as the larger format.
I discovered in late August, with my mentor’s help, that I had taken on multiple projects, and that I was still working in the same way as before: fast, all-over compositions, all on the surface mark-making, and unresolved color. She felt that I might be better off focusing on technical issues, working smaller, and restricting myself in subject matter. She recommended that I work on painting fundamentals. Specific issues that need to be addressed are: color; figure/ground and spatial relationships; subject matter/source material; the ability to sustain a painting over multiple painting sessions; recognizing when a painting is working or not working; and being realistic about personal time and energy constraints.
I tried (though I rebelled frequently) to work in a reduced palette. I stopped even trying to make paintings. I switched to working on paper and did a number of really small, quick abstract color studies – just colors and shapes.
A breakthrough came with three events: I took a two-day color theory workshop, I wrote a paper that focused on the role subject matter plays in the work of several artists I’m interested in, and I decided to focus on painting sticks. After witnessing me working from a ton of different reference materials – mostly photographs – my mentor and I thought that it would be best to paint from a primary source – ideally from nature. And, noticing that many artists set up projects for themselves (i.e., Amy Sillman drawing couples for the work that ended up in her Third Person Singular exhibit), I began collecting sticks. I’ve been doing a lot of walking in the Bosque along the Rio Grande, and I’m fascinated by the shimmery grays and golden hues in these broken, piled up Cottonwood branches scattered in the woods. There’s a subtle beauty in the colors resulting from varied states of desiccation and sun-and-weather fade. More than anything, the connection with nature re-energized me, and finding a single thing to paint felt like a lifeline.
So, finally in this last month I feel that I’ve hit on a subject that will allow me to paint “something” while working on technical issues of color and pictorial space. I began a number of 12x12” studies of the sticks that I will continue through December. I think that working in this way will do two things: allow me to work quickly and complete a number of paintings—which I find satisfying; and also really explore this subject matter. I also am trying out painting on artist panels, and I have found that I like working on the hard, smooth surface – a surprise. On the first pass, there is almost a sense of there being a resist on the surface, and there’s an opportunity to work with underglazes before I begin putting down thick strokes. It was recommended that I try oils; but after a couple muddy attempts, I’ve decided to stay with what I know for awhile. One thing that has intrigued me is that these little studies of stick piles end up looking like landscapes. I like the idea of a part, closely-focused, resembling the whole.
In these studies, my mentor has suggested that I work on my color vocabulary – really look at the colors in the grays and spend time mixing and selecting color schemes. I am also going to try different painting tools and vary the surface qualities. Another commitment is to spend more time on each painting. This continues to be a major stumbling block for me. I have a real palpable distaste for going back. I like to work quickly and move on. My mentor suggested that I need to learn to recognize the problems that need to be worked out in a painting, and to know when it’s “finished”. I am getting a sense that I have a need to “discharge” some kind of energy as I work. I spend a lot of time in my head, thinking about things, and then I shoot them out. I am experimenting with giving myself permission to do quick one-offs on paper, if I need a break. I may need to find a way to work this almost physiological need into my studio practice at the same time I learn to work longer on a painting and to go back and edit.
My reading this semester has been all about abstract painting (though I have been reading a bit in more general areas as well). A recurring theme to critiques of my work is that it seems to be an “adaptation of a pre-existing style”, rather than a result of an inquiry. Though I do understand this conceptually, when I look at any one specific painting, what this looks like and means becomes less clear. So, I’ve been finding more contemporary references (beyond De Kooning, Mitchell, and Pollock) in order to start to think more expansively about what abstract painting can be about--to understand abstract painting as more than a style that continually refers back to the 1920s to 1970s (in my case specifically to New York school abstract expressionism). My major challenge with the reading is that I want to read everything. Like with my painting, I can tend to get a number of texts going at the same time, and I would like to be more focused and disciplined, particularly with making sure that I take time to write summaries of the readings. I particularly struggled with Briony Fer’s On Abstract Art. As I was reading, it made sense, but I have difficulty re-articulating her major points. I found a “critical reading worksheet for texts from art and theory” from an art history course, and I am going to use it to organize my reading and note-taking.
Two things that I find very challenging with the low-residency MFA program are pacing the work and the lack of peer interaction. On my agenda for next semester (see footnote) is to be more disciplined with scheduling the work I need to do each month. At the beginning of the semester, I had a very difficult time working 40 hours at my office, parenting, and getting in the minimum hours for the MFA program. In September, I negotiated a 32-hour work-week with my employer. This has made a huge difference. Still, I feel like I am adjusting to find the right scheduling rhythm. I have been looking for ways to meet other artists and students. Taking the color theory class helped. The teacher offered to help introduce me to other art students and through her I heard about graduate reviews at The University of New Mexico. I connected with two students and we’re looking for a time to get together after the holidays. I also want to see more exhibits locally. This can be challenging given my current schedule, but remains a goal for next semester.
Footnote
List of things to work on and improve for next semester:
Collection of tear sheets from magazines, books, or fabric that have palettes that interest me, with attention to the ratio of warm to cool, light to dark, vivid to muted in these palettes / do some studies based on these.
Journal. Looking back, I wish that I had more consistently journaled after each day of painting. I have lots of scraps of paper that I wrote notes on, but I feel being more systematic and organized would be very helpful. I am going to begin to do this now at the end of the semester, and continue it through next semester.
Struggle with “going back”. I paint intensely for a while and then really don’t want to go back to the same painting. Trying out the 30-day painting was challenging, because it really became a different painting every time – different shapes, colors, ideas. I found it to be exhausting and draining. It might be interesting to try this again, but smaller and using a very specific source.
Refer back to notes and my agenda. This can serve as a kind of “beacon” for me. I need to allow for spontaneity, discovery, and change, but I have a strong tendency to move quickly from one thing to the next, and my mind is always busy. The thing to watch for is the tendency to move on before I can fully explore something, or decisively decide to abandon it for something else. I’ve been doing some career coaching, which involved some pretty extensive aptitude testing. I tested quite high in “idea flow” and “diagnostic reasoning”. These two things combine to make me apt to move from one thing to the next (jack of all trades, master of none) and to be highly self-critical. I need to keep aware of this and make sure to note my successes. Goals and agenda are a good tool for this.
Commentary/suggestions from Laurel: “I just want to emphasize that intuition plays a very strong role for many abstract painters. Keep trusting your instincts, while taking more time to reflect upon what you have done. Let the work be your teacher at the same time as you impose structure.”
“…Continue mining the topic of what it means to be making abstract expressionist paintings in 2009. The premise for the UCLA Hammer show Oranges and Sardines is based on dialogue among contemporary abstract painters and their influences. If you haven't picked up the book from that show, I strongly encourage you to do so.”
“Focus directly on the painting process and allow meaning and content to emerge in retrospect. Imposing subject matter can often restrict the work before it ever gets the chance to BE anything.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Artists Researched
Daniel Brice
Cecily Brown
Mary Heilmann
Udo Noger
Jackson Pollock
Amy Sillman
Charline von Heyl
Books read
Ashton, Dore. Cecily Brown/Des Moines Art Center Catalogue. New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc, 2008. Print.
Batchelor, David, Chromophobia.
Dimand, Maurice. Indian Miniatures. New York: Crown Publishers/The Folio Art Books, ?year. Print.
Elkins, James. What Painting Is.
Emmerling, Leonhard. Jackson Pollock 1912-1956: At the Limit of Painting,. Koln: TASCHEN, 2009. Print.
Garrels, Gary. Oranges and Sardines: Conversations on Abstract Painting (exhibition catalog). Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2008. Print.
Gibson, Add Eden. Abstract Expressionism: Other Politics.
Howard Hodgkin, Nicolas Serota ed.
Jackson Pollock: New Approaches, Kirk Varnedoe ed.
John Currin Selects. Boston: MFA Publications, 2003.
Perry, Vicky. Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2007. Print.
Schwabsky, Barry. Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting.
Scribner III, Charles. Rubens. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1989. Print.
Tuchmann, Maurice, et. al. The Impact of Chaim Soutine (1893-1943): De Kooning, Pollock, Dubuffet, Bacon. Galerie Gmurzynska. ISBN 377579103.
Varnedoe, Kirk. Pictures of Nothing.
The Abstract Impulse: 50 Years of Abstraction at the National Academy, 1956-2006, Marshall N. Price
Books in process
Bois, Yve-Alain. Painting as Model.
Fer, Briony. On Abstract Art.
Rosenthal, Mark. Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1996. Print.
“Want to read”
Art History Versus Aesthetics. James Elkins, ed.
Nickas, Bob. Painting Abstraction: New Elements in Abstract Painting.
Godfrey, Tony. Painting Today.
Krauss, Rosalind. The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Myths.
Elkins, James. Why Art Cannot Be Taught.
Sarup, Madan. An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism.
Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader.
Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction.
Albers Josef. Interaction of Color.
Mayer, Musa. Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston. New York: Da Capo Press.1997. Print.
Ashton, Dore. American Art Since 1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Articles (partial list)
Barliant, Claire and Christopher Turner. “Painting Paradox.” Modern Painters, Summer 2009.
Bell, Kirsty. “It’s Own Reality.” Frieze, May 2009: 92-97 Print.
Green, Tyler. Modern Art Notes: Amy Sillman at the Hirshhorn. Web. http://www.artsjournal.com/man/2008/04/amy_sillman_at_the_hirshorn.html.
Rubenstein Raphael. “Provisional Painting”. Art in America, May 2009 122-135.
Letham Jonathan. “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism.” Harper’s Magazine, 59-71.
Von Heyl, Charline. “1000 Words: Charline von Heyl Talks About Sabotage, 2008.” ArtForum, October 2009: 330-339. Print.
Videos/Documentaries/Discussions
Alice Neel
Art 21 (Seasons 1 and 2)
Ayers, Leslie. “Graduate Review.” University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. 6 Nov. 2009. Discussion.
Hammer series; Oranges and Sardines
Heilmann, Mary. Art: 21 - Mary Heilmann. PBS. Web. 1 Nov. 2009.
Sillman, Amy. “A Conversation with Amy Sillman.” Hirshhorn podcast. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
Exhibits
Albuquerque Now, The Albuquerque Museum
Udo Noger, Gerbert Contemporary
Daniel Brice, Chiaroscuro Gallery
Phillis Ideal, Chiaroscuro Gallery
Magazines
Modern Painters
Art in America
Harper’s
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The James Kalm Report
Yesterday I met with a prospective mentor for the third semester, Phillis Ideal. I have to share a great resource for those of us far from New York: The James Kalm Report.
James Kalm takes a video camera with him to gallery shows in New York, providing commentary along the way. If you can't be there, it's an amazing glimpse into parts of the New York art scene.
Here's the official description:
James Kalm is a working artist living in Brooklyn New York. He has been an active critic for over twelve years writing for the controversial Brooklyn Rail http://brooklynrail.org/. For more high resolution videos, writings by James Kalm and views of the paintings of Loren Munk visit http://www.lorenmunk.com/.
Here's where you can go to see the videos:
BlipTV: http://jameskalmreport.blip.tv/
YouTube: The James Kalm Report
Website: Loren Munk.com
James Kalm takes a video camera with him to gallery shows in New York, providing commentary along the way. If you can't be there, it's an amazing glimpse into parts of the New York art scene.
Here's the official description:
James Kalm is a working artist living in Brooklyn New York. He has been an active critic for over twelve years writing for the controversial Brooklyn Rail http://brooklynrail.org/. For more high resolution videos, writings by James Kalm and views of the paintings of Loren Munk visit http://www.lorenmunk.com/.
Here's where you can go to see the videos:
BlipTV: http://jameskalmreport.blip.tv/
YouTube: The James Kalm Report
Website: Loren Munk.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Could it be procrastination?
So far today I've run with the dogs -- twice -- did 45 minutes of pilates, shredded a two-foot high stack of papers and tossed other junk, organized my collage stuff and other art paper and stuff, read Psychology Today, balanced my checkbook, and fought the day-before-Thanksgiving crowds at Wal-mart for.... a roasting pan, floss, and a tube of toothpaste. Could I be avoiding my semester summary paper?
So, in the spirit of being as self-revealing, I am avoiding this end of semester review for lots of reasons. I don't feel I've logged the paint to surface hours I wish I had (lots of time was spent doing the one step forward, three steps back dance...lots of time agonizing over color theory...lots of time angsting whether I have the personal fortitude and qualities and self-discipline to make this a go...lots of time staring at a blank canvas on a wall...my dogs wish I'd spent lots more time with them running (the poor souls are both Australian Cattledogs)...I actually think my kids are okay since their friends play Hannah Montana much better than I do, and my 6-year-old is completely happy going to galleries with me if I give her a sketchbook (she actually sketches the paintings on the walls, and has me "pose" beside them for added compositional interest). My partner totally wants me to be happy, so grumbles, but gives me the time I need.
Rambling on, I am actually thinking about incorporating "The Artist's Way" 12-week program into my MFA program. So much of this crap is just about throwing off handed- down conceptions of productivity and what it means to work. I'm still working out issues about it being okay to be an artist in the first place. I feel this need to be productive to "society" in some way...some way that makes it easier for me to think about being a UPS driver than a painter (and I love my UPS driver and I mean this as a compliment!).
So, now that I'm done rambling, the last paper will be finished before I head off to sleep tonight.
So, in the spirit of being as self-revealing, I am avoiding this end of semester review for lots of reasons. I don't feel I've logged the paint to surface hours I wish I had (lots of time was spent doing the one step forward, three steps back dance...lots of time agonizing over color theory...lots of time angsting whether I have the personal fortitude and qualities and self-discipline to make this a go...lots of time staring at a blank canvas on a wall...my dogs wish I'd spent lots more time with them running (the poor souls are both Australian Cattledogs)...I actually think my kids are okay since their friends play Hannah Montana much better than I do, and my 6-year-old is completely happy going to galleries with me if I give her a sketchbook (she actually sketches the paintings on the walls, and has me "pose" beside them for added compositional interest). My partner totally wants me to be happy, so grumbles, but gives me the time I need.
Rambling on, I am actually thinking about incorporating "The Artist's Way" 12-week program into my MFA program. So much of this crap is just about throwing off handed- down conceptions of productivity and what it means to work. I'm still working out issues about it being okay to be an artist in the first place. I feel this need to be productive to "society" in some way...some way that makes it easier for me to think about being a UPS driver than a painter (and I love my UPS driver and I mean this as a compliment!).
So, now that I'm done rambling, the last paper will be finished before I head off to sleep tonight.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
New paintings
 |
| From Sources Nov 2009 / sticks & stuff |
Acrylic on canvas, 8"x8"
 |
| From Sources Nov 2009 / sticks & stuff |
Acrylic on canvas, 6"x8"
Friday, November 20, 2009
Prayer for today
Acrylic on paper, 6"x8"
The Summer Day
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
---
This and other poems can be read on Poetry 180.
from New and Selected Poems, 1992
Beacon Press, Boston, MA
Copyright 1992 by Mary Oliver.
All rights reserved.
....
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Spooky
Had one of those strange coincidences occur yesterday. I had ordered a used copy of "Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline". It arrived yesterday, and upon opening the front cover, I found an inscription. The inscription was not addressed to a particular person, but was dated 2/23/96 and signed "Happy Birthday". My birthday is 2/23. Hmmm.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Research Paper - "The Subject Is the Object"
Jill Christian
Advisor: Laurel Sparks
Research Paper
6 November 2009
The Subject Is the Object
“You get bored with yourself and say, ‘what is it that I am interested in?’”
–Mary Heilmann, Interview, Art:21
This week I attended a graduate painting review at the University of New Mexico. The painting student Leslie Ayers presented paintings that were luscious, painterly large-scaled abstractions of interior spaces, with skewed perspectives and overlapping lines reminiscent of recent work by Amy Sillman. During the talk, Ayers was asked, “Is using the space simply a way that you can even make the painting at all?” While Ayers talked about wanting to create a space that can be inhabitable while expressing her particular fascination with the light and geometry of interior spaces, her painting seemed to be about the push and pull of space and color –- bringing you in enough (through perspective and color relationships) visually to engage your interest, yet halting your entrance through your unexpected encounter with a shifted plane, an opaque object, or advancing color. Although she understood her process as intuitive, she began her paintings with one-inch by one-inch thumbnail sketches, which she then blew up to letter size using a xerox machine. Her palette and grid-like structure of the compositions belied a logic and formal decision-making process that seemed more studied than intuitive and emotional. Was her subject matter a necessary and idiosyncratic springboard for painterly exploration rather than the true subject matter of her painting? Or both?
Listening to her presentation and the conversation of the student and faculty, I thought more about the question of subject matter in abstract painting and how painters use reference material to inform their work –- and to what degree it matters that these reference materials are visible to the viewer in the final work. How subject matter can serve as a scaffold, a jumping off point, or a way of disciplining or restraining the work with a project or question.
I’ve been thinking about subject matter and restraint during this semester because I encountered a severe block in my painting process when it was suggested that I shift to a different kind of reference material. My mentor suggested that I was taking on too much –- too much historical references; too much reference to images taken from books and magazines and combined together. That this all-overness is exacerbating the all-overness of my painting and preventing me from exploring basic concepts like the creation of visual space through push-pull, warm-cool, contouring, and size contrasts.
In my last paper, I discussed works by two minimalist artists, Udo Noger and David Brice. I was asked if there was something that these two artists have that I want for my own work. I think that what I responded to most in their work was a focus that allowed their paintings to explore a particular thing through a sort of project. I have begun researching how several abstract artists have used subject matter in their process as an aspect of focus; and ultimately as an expression of their particular interests. While painting in and of itself can be seductive, eventually, as Mary Heilmann said in an Art21 interview, “You get bored with yourself and say, ‘what is it that I am interested in?’.”
Mark Rosenthal discusses the dilemma of early abstractionists, in terms of Kandinsky’s questions, “What should replace the missing object?” He argues that this is the “crux of the dilemma for all abstractionists” and that “from the start, abstractionists needed to define their position with regard to subject matter, with each artist proposing his or her own solution” (Rosenthal 36). In spite of the formalism seemingly inherent in abstract painting, the subject has not gone away, and how a particular artist approaches subject matter is as important as (and influences) formal and process considerations. Amy Sillman echoes this sentiment in a Hammer lecture associated with the exhibition Oranges and Sardines, saying that “everything is absolutely idiosyncratic”.
Cecily Brown is one artist who relies on specific subject matter to create figurative, gestural abstractions. In her interview with Lari Pittman included in the 2008 exhibit catalog for the exhibit, Cecily Brown, she states that she begins with specific imagery in mind. “When I’m painting, I think figurally. I’ve started calling my paintings abstract narratives, because almost everyone who sees them says, ‘Oh, they’re so abstract.’ But when I’m making them, I need to know what it is that I’m painting; it has to be something very specific“ (Dore 28). Like many abstract artists, she expresses a certain degree of ambivalence about whether the viewer needs to know the sources of the work in order to fully experience the work. Brown says, “I don’t know whether I’ll indicate the subject in the title of these recent paintings or just not worry if nobody else sees the goat, or the flying monkey, or the tent, or whatever it is, and accept the subject as simply necessary to me in order to make a painting” (Dore 28). And perhaps knowing would lessen the visual experience of the viewer. Brown, for example, says that she frequently uses the shape of a tent as a beginning structure, but it serves more as an armature than an interpretable symbol within the world of the painting.
Merging and mixing sources is a frequently used strategy for many contemporary abstract painters. Brown suggests that it is the way she merges her sources into visual imagery that is what interests her: “I’m lost without having some kind of imagery from the outside world. But there’s never just one source. It’s the fusing of references that makes something new. And not just still visual images, but books, music, movies, TV -- they all help” (Dore 28). For Brown, the interest lies in creating something that doesn’t exist outside of the world of the painting, but which can take on life in her own mind -– and in the minds of her viewers. She defines a successful painting as one that is visually compelling enough that it “continues to review itself” over time. To her the importance lies in the creation of associations that stir memories –- "like daydreaming," she says (Dore 28).
Like Brown, Charline von Heyl talks about her method of abstraction as a desire to create something visually new and beyond the existing visual world. (Bell 93).
Whereas Brown seems to build up a multitude of images on the verge of recognition, von Heyl engages in a process of covering up. Von Heyl “would begin with a motif or image, and proceed to destroy it through a process of over-painting, until its origins were no longer recognizable and the activity of painting itself became the organizing principle for the canvas’s composition”(Bell 94). Unlike Brown, von Heyl claims that she does not have a pre-conceived idea when she begins a painting (although one could argue that a motif or image inherently carries ideas) and does not make studies. Instead she allows “the works to be determined rather by the decisions that arise in the process of their making” (Bell 95). However, von Heyl separately produces collage on paper, printmaking, and has created at least one artist book. If not explicitly translated into her paintings, it seems likely that these activities inform her subject matter.
Working in a very different and more “old-fashioned” (as she calls it) way is Amy Sillman. Sillman has pulled subject matter from the landscape and the figure, saying that she is interested in exploring the space between abstraction and figuration. Sillman’s work created for the exhibit, Third Person Singular, is based on very specific subject matter: drawings of couples in their environments. She chose the subject, not only to create a “exploration” for herself to “build a new vocabulary for form”, but also because of her interest in the built in psychological tension of couples. Like Brown and Heilman, she engages in a rearranging and working over of the original imagery. After drawing the couples from life, Sillman recreated drawings from memory. Describing her process in a the Hirshorn podcast, A Conversation with Amy Sillman, Sillman says:
For Sillman, though the work could not exist without the original subject matter, the interest lies in peeling away the particular of the subject matter that do not add to the imaginative interpretation of the subject, leaving those things that specifically interest and are peculiar to Sillman’s vision.
In the documentary film, Alice Neal, Alice Neal talks about her own figurative work and its relationship to abstract expressionism, which was the overriding style as she began her career. She says, “The human brain is incapable of inventing something they haven’t seen.” Similarly, Gary Garrels in the introductory essay to Oranges and Sardines says, “Painting as a physical phenomenon retains linkages to material existence, to the visceral, obdurate, and fragile characteristics of life. It reflects the body and mind, tied up into on indivisible knot (13). Brown, von Heyl, Sillman – as well as Leslie Ayers – are not so much making up something completely new, but by working with a range of subject matter creating new connections and ways of depicting, and thus seeing our world (the physical and psychological. These abstract artists all use their subject matter as a starting point, whether that is an interior architectural space, a motif, or a couple in relationship, and from there through manipulation, distortion, augmentation, and destruction create new visual realities that allow themselves and the viewers to see in a new way. As Brown says, a painting can create “an unpredictable situation where one sensation leads to another, so that looking at it becomes a complex and layered experience. I think the absence of fixed meaning is liberating” (Dore 29). In a strange way, such intense exploration of a particular subject matter can create new aesthetic and emotional experiences beyond the original meaning or source.
Works cited
Art:21 online video - Mary Heilmann http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mary-heilmann/
A Conversation with Amy Sillman (podcast), http://hirshhorn.si.edu/dynamic/podcasts/podcast_66.m4a
Bell, Kirsty. “It’s Own Reality.” Frieze, May 2009, p 92-97.
Dore, Ashton. Cecily Brown. New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc, 2008. Print
Garrels, Gary. Oranges and Sardines: Conversations on Abstract Painting (exhibition catalog). Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2008. Print.
Rosenthal, Mark. Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1996. Print.
Advisor: Laurel Sparks
Research Paper
6 November 2009
The Subject Is the Object
“You get bored with yourself and say, ‘what is it that I am interested in?’”
–Mary Heilmann, Interview, Art:21
This week I attended a graduate painting review at the University of New Mexico. The painting student Leslie Ayers presented paintings that were luscious, painterly large-scaled abstractions of interior spaces, with skewed perspectives and overlapping lines reminiscent of recent work by Amy Sillman. During the talk, Ayers was asked, “Is using the space simply a way that you can even make the painting at all?” While Ayers talked about wanting to create a space that can be inhabitable while expressing her particular fascination with the light and geometry of interior spaces, her painting seemed to be about the push and pull of space and color –- bringing you in enough (through perspective and color relationships) visually to engage your interest, yet halting your entrance through your unexpected encounter with a shifted plane, an opaque object, or advancing color. Although she understood her process as intuitive, she began her paintings with one-inch by one-inch thumbnail sketches, which she then blew up to letter size using a xerox machine. Her palette and grid-like structure of the compositions belied a logic and formal decision-making process that seemed more studied than intuitive and emotional. Was her subject matter a necessary and idiosyncratic springboard for painterly exploration rather than the true subject matter of her painting? Or both?
Listening to her presentation and the conversation of the student and faculty, I thought more about the question of subject matter in abstract painting and how painters use reference material to inform their work –- and to what degree it matters that these reference materials are visible to the viewer in the final work. How subject matter can serve as a scaffold, a jumping off point, or a way of disciplining or restraining the work with a project or question.
I’ve been thinking about subject matter and restraint during this semester because I encountered a severe block in my painting process when it was suggested that I shift to a different kind of reference material. My mentor suggested that I was taking on too much –- too much historical references; too much reference to images taken from books and magazines and combined together. That this all-overness is exacerbating the all-overness of my painting and preventing me from exploring basic concepts like the creation of visual space through push-pull, warm-cool, contouring, and size contrasts.
In my last paper, I discussed works by two minimalist artists, Udo Noger and David Brice. I was asked if there was something that these two artists have that I want for my own work. I think that what I responded to most in their work was a focus that allowed their paintings to explore a particular thing through a sort of project. I have begun researching how several abstract artists have used subject matter in their process as an aspect of focus; and ultimately as an expression of their particular interests. While painting in and of itself can be seductive, eventually, as Mary Heilmann said in an Art21 interview, “You get bored with yourself and say, ‘what is it that I am interested in?’.”
Mark Rosenthal discusses the dilemma of early abstractionists, in terms of Kandinsky’s questions, “What should replace the missing object?” He argues that this is the “crux of the dilemma for all abstractionists” and that “from the start, abstractionists needed to define their position with regard to subject matter, with each artist proposing his or her own solution” (Rosenthal 36). In spite of the formalism seemingly inherent in abstract painting, the subject has not gone away, and how a particular artist approaches subject matter is as important as (and influences) formal and process considerations. Amy Sillman echoes this sentiment in a Hammer lecture associated with the exhibition Oranges and Sardines, saying that “everything is absolutely idiosyncratic”.
Cecily Brown is one artist who relies on specific subject matter to create figurative, gestural abstractions. In her interview with Lari Pittman included in the 2008 exhibit catalog for the exhibit, Cecily Brown, she states that she begins with specific imagery in mind. “When I’m painting, I think figurally. I’ve started calling my paintings abstract narratives, because almost everyone who sees them says, ‘Oh, they’re so abstract.’ But when I’m making them, I need to know what it is that I’m painting; it has to be something very specific“ (Dore 28). Like many abstract artists, she expresses a certain degree of ambivalence about whether the viewer needs to know the sources of the work in order to fully experience the work. Brown says, “I don’t know whether I’ll indicate the subject in the title of these recent paintings or just not worry if nobody else sees the goat, or the flying monkey, or the tent, or whatever it is, and accept the subject as simply necessary to me in order to make a painting” (Dore 28). And perhaps knowing would lessen the visual experience of the viewer. Brown, for example, says that she frequently uses the shape of a tent as a beginning structure, but it serves more as an armature than an interpretable symbol within the world of the painting.
Merging and mixing sources is a frequently used strategy for many contemporary abstract painters. Brown suggests that it is the way she merges her sources into visual imagery that is what interests her: “I’m lost without having some kind of imagery from the outside world. But there’s never just one source. It’s the fusing of references that makes something new. And not just still visual images, but books, music, movies, TV -- they all help” (Dore 28). For Brown, the interest lies in creating something that doesn’t exist outside of the world of the painting, but which can take on life in her own mind -– and in the minds of her viewers. She defines a successful painting as one that is visually compelling enough that it “continues to review itself” over time. To her the importance lies in the creation of associations that stir memories –- "like daydreaming," she says (Dore 28).
Like Brown, Charline von Heyl talks about her method of abstraction as a desire to create something visually new and beyond the existing visual world. (Bell 93).
Whereas Brown seems to build up a multitude of images on the verge of recognition, von Heyl engages in a process of covering up. Von Heyl “would begin with a motif or image, and proceed to destroy it through a process of over-painting, until its origins were no longer recognizable and the activity of painting itself became the organizing principle for the canvas’s composition”(Bell 94). Unlike Brown, von Heyl claims that she does not have a pre-conceived idea when she begins a painting (although one could argue that a motif or image inherently carries ideas) and does not make studies. Instead she allows “the works to be determined rather by the decisions that arise in the process of their making” (Bell 95). However, von Heyl separately produces collage on paper, printmaking, and has created at least one artist book. If not explicitly translated into her paintings, it seems likely that these activities inform her subject matter.
Working in a very different and more “old-fashioned” (as she calls it) way is Amy Sillman. Sillman has pulled subject matter from the landscape and the figure, saying that she is interested in exploring the space between abstraction and figuration. Sillman’s work created for the exhibit, Third Person Singular, is based on very specific subject matter: drawings of couples in their environments. She chose the subject, not only to create a “exploration” for herself to “build a new vocabulary for form”, but also because of her interest in the built in psychological tension of couples. Like Brown and Heilman, she engages in a rearranging and working over of the original imagery. After drawing the couples from life, Sillman recreated drawings from memory. Describing her process in a the Hirshorn podcast, A Conversation with Amy Sillman, Sillman says:
I would try to redraw them. I thought those drawings were very funny because they were kind of distorted. And then the distortions made it really obvious that those drawings from memory were the real meat. Because they were the things that were linked to the obvious process of abstraction, but also draining the kind of boring content away and putting more interesting content in. Making it go from an act of perception to an act of imagination.
For Sillman, though the work could not exist without the original subject matter, the interest lies in peeling away the particular of the subject matter that do not add to the imaginative interpretation of the subject, leaving those things that specifically interest and are peculiar to Sillman’s vision.
In the documentary film, Alice Neal, Alice Neal talks about her own figurative work and its relationship to abstract expressionism, which was the overriding style as she began her career. She says, “The human brain is incapable of inventing something they haven’t seen.” Similarly, Gary Garrels in the introductory essay to Oranges and Sardines says, “Painting as a physical phenomenon retains linkages to material existence, to the visceral, obdurate, and fragile characteristics of life. It reflects the body and mind, tied up into on indivisible knot (13). Brown, von Heyl, Sillman – as well as Leslie Ayers – are not so much making up something completely new, but by working with a range of subject matter creating new connections and ways of depicting, and thus seeing our world (the physical and psychological. These abstract artists all use their subject matter as a starting point, whether that is an interior architectural space, a motif, or a couple in relationship, and from there through manipulation, distortion, augmentation, and destruction create new visual realities that allow themselves and the viewers to see in a new way. As Brown says, a painting can create “an unpredictable situation where one sensation leads to another, so that looking at it becomes a complex and layered experience. I think the absence of fixed meaning is liberating” (Dore 29). In a strange way, such intense exploration of a particular subject matter can create new aesthetic and emotional experiences beyond the original meaning or source.
Works cited
Art:21 online video - Mary Heilmann http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mary-heilmann/
A Conversation with Amy Sillman (podcast), http://hirshhorn.si.edu/dynamic/podcasts/podcast_66.m4a
Bell, Kirsty. “It’s Own Reality.” Frieze, May 2009, p 92-97.
Dore, Ashton. Cecily Brown. New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc, 2008. Print
Garrels, Gary. Oranges and Sardines: Conversations on Abstract Painting (exhibition catalog). Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2008. Print.
Rosenthal, Mark. Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1996. Print.
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