This morning as I was preparing to write this post, I had to look at what I could talk about and I saw the first collection of abstracts I made in 2012 on foreign soil and I thought perhaps I need to talk about that experience.
During the October 2012 school holidays, I created a collection of perhaps sombre-looking abstract works, which was not my intention but the lack of natural light and a proper workspace added to my limited palette, I believe. Or are they simply “signs” of adaptation and of coming to terms with predominantly air-conditioned environments without natural light? Looking at them now, I realize that becoming part of a foreign environment is not always easy, but at least the creative process (indeed therapeutic) affords the subconscious mind an opportunity to speak; by creating art, we become our own “colourful psychologists” and achieve a measure of inner stability. To me, abstract painting allows me the freedom to stabilize my inner world and to scoop and sculpt the paint to my heart’s content.
Oil colour is the ideal medium for abstraction (I think) because its drying time allows the artist opportunities to interfere with the surface and to create the imagined surprise or to be surprised by the “miracle” he or she did not know about, or did not plan. I work relatively fast using this method, using almost any piece of cardboard or scraping tool I have within reach and the result is not planned at all. I usually only decide on the base colour and then the rest is simply “spontaneous mathematics”, dependent on factors seemingly beyond my control. However, I do step in to take charge as the paint “flows” and the lines intersect and I start to see the array of possibilities which the work reveals. This is an intuitive process and I believe it can be compared to a composer who goes to sit down at the piano (or the chosen instrument) without reference material; intentionally allowing the creative process to dictate the composition. Frustration is part of the process too, unfortunately.
The frustration I experience during the making of these abstract works can usually be linked to my deliberate insistence in trying to replicate a “happy accident” or a technique which worked in a previous work. I become a little lazy or possibly tired and then I want to take a short cut to speed up the process; this reliance on previous methods usually extends the time I have to devote to a work. I am speaking (for myself now) and to myself now: “Take timely breaks during the creative process and drink some coffee or tea, phone a friend, rest your eyes, get some fresh air and remember that each work needs a fresh vision”.
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