On Painting: 2D/3D

I used to claim that, “I make art because I have to” as the daily pursuit of the elusive goal of expressing ideas visually gave my life focus and direction in the same way that religion or a strong philosophical framework might provide for others. Now I make art because I love to. The process of creation is like meditation in that it is centering, calming and builds self-awareness.  Joy comes from overriding the over-busy mind and being present in the moment of creation. And to be in the moment, all other worries, problems, desires and ambitions must be put aside to be tuned into what the work needs as it comes into being.

The 2D/3D series built on earlier work in the Ephemera series. It explores the dualities of male & female, vertical and horizontal, soft and hard, open and closed, active & passive.

They built on the Ephemera series by again working with the transition between an idea realized in one dimension that could then be translated into a third.

These works were intentionally lush to suggest the intensity of the process and to communicate that experience.  This assumes that imagination and creativity are human attributes that offer the greatest potential for harmony.  It also assumes that art can and should act as a counter-weight to the overwhelmingly empty or negative images with which we are continually barraged, rather than underline them.

I wrestle with being  a modernist painter in a post-modern era. I recognize and accept the post-modern critique that has forced artists to examine their assumption of socially enforced dysfunctional paradigms. But now, artists should move beyond a critical stance to a more pro-active role. While cynicism and irony have been important tools for creating distance from unrealistic optimism, perhaps it’s time to rejuvenate art’s role as a vehicle for exploring the spiritual side of human experience. In an increasingly crowded globe with divisive differences, art is universally accessible and can help to focus on what is worthwhile.

Every/No Thing, ML Jamieson, 2005, oil on canvas, 36” x 48”

These paintings were developed during the summer I lived in a small cabin in an organic orchard in Winfield, on the outskirts of Kelowna while working on a sculpture commission for that city.  After a long day onsite in the hot city I would return to the cabin in the evenings and draw.  It was almost a retreat experience as I barely had electricity and no phone, fax, computer or all the distracting paraphernalia of modern life.              

I bought a sheaf of drawing papers, a bundle of oil pastels and lost myself in the joy of form, colour, line and texture.  In my nightly drawing sessions I was searching for an uninhibited flow of ideas from my unconscious to the paper via my oil sticks.

Working in euphoric bursts of energy, I had great satisfaction in having nothing to do with the rational mind.  I produced about 20 drawings in that time.

The Winfield cabin drawings were experiments in colour, line & form and back in my Vancouver studio, were translated  into oil paint on canvas. These drawing and paintings were then used as research for developing 3D ideas for concrete sculptures. Working through  drawings and paintings was a good way to come up with ideas  to develop in 3D .

The idea in Memory was subsequently translated into concrete in the two pieces below:

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There were many other concrete pieces that grew out of the original 2D/3D series begun in that cabin in Winfield that can be the subject of another blog.