‘flatness’ is good in my book. I am avoiding creating too much space. I find that as soon as there is too much depth it gets rather ‘psychedelic’. I want the paintings to have a ‘dumbness’ about them.
I cannot claim it as my own, it came from a friend of mine who is also a painter and has been a big influence on me and my thinking http://www.stephenpark.co.uk
perhaps it as a stepping away from sophistication and earnestness . Philip Guston could be a good example of this? I feel a little shakey on my feet talking about this as I may not have formed my thoughts clearly yet. keywords may be:
Honesty
simplicity
clarity
humility
comedy
?
I love the work of Jessica Stockholder, she is fearless about what materials she uses and how to assemble it. The use of a plastic watering can may be considered dumb? It’s a flouting of all those machismo concerns and emotionality of Abstract Expressionism.
thank you for this honest and thought out response.. it is interesting to consider.. brings to mind a lot of things which come about initially as just words; but which are all very packed with meaning and problematics of their own, these include:
feminine
primitive
at least the things associated with those words in a conservative art history…
i get your anti-machismo concerns..
what do you think about work that speaks against something else.. like, if we are doing something in response to a dominant thing… are we giving it excessive power? not a criticism, just something i think about a lot… anyway.. nice work and thanks for your explanations/ dialogue … i will look up the names you mentioned.
Sarah Hoskins' Journal 
I realize that ‘flatness’ is a weird compliment, and maybe not appropriate if I saw it in real life, but here.. it works remarkably well!
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‘flatness’ is good in my book. I am avoiding creating too much space. I find that as soon as there is too much depth it gets rather ‘psychedelic’. I want the paintings to have a ‘dumbness’ about them.
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interesting, what is the ‘dumbness’? I like it, but am interested in hearing where that comes from for you..
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I cannot claim it as my own, it came from a friend of mine who is also a painter and has been a big influence on me and my thinking http://www.stephenpark.co.uk
perhaps it as a stepping away from sophistication and earnestness . Philip Guston could be a good example of this? I feel a little shakey on my feet talking about this as I may not have formed my thoughts clearly yet. keywords may be:
Honesty
simplicity
clarity
humility
comedy
?
I love the work of Jessica Stockholder, she is fearless about what materials she uses and how to assemble it. The use of a plastic watering can may be considered dumb? It’s a flouting of all those machismo concerns and emotionality of Abstract Expressionism.
LikeLike
thank you for this honest and thought out response.. it is interesting to consider.. brings to mind a lot of things which come about initially as just words; but which are all very packed with meaning and problematics of their own, these include:
feminine
primitive
at least the things associated with those words in a conservative art history…
i get your anti-machismo concerns..
what do you think about work that speaks against something else.. like, if we are doing something in response to a dominant thing… are we giving it excessive power? not a criticism, just something i think about a lot… anyway.. nice work and thanks for your explanations/ dialogue … i will look up the names you mentioned.
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Nice work. I like the colors and flatness in your work a lot. 🙂
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