Spending most days painting in my Asheville studio, I am used to lots of questions, but honestly, most of the questions are pretty much the same. They mostly involve my technique and how I do it. Just a hint: I don’t tell how, I just tell what and why. :)
This last week though, amongst the other visitors to Asheville’s River Arts District, I had a gentleman give my artwork the “once over”, then pulled up beside me and quietly asked, “Do you always just paint what’s pretty, or do you ever get serious with your art?” Hmmm. I honestly didn’t know how to answer that, and told him so, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the question and would like, in this forum, to respond.
I have done only three paintings that were touching on serious topics. One painting (the darkest piece I’ve ever done) dealt with my feelings after visiting the concentration camp at Dachau, Germany. One dealt with climate change, and one (currently hanging in my studio) deals with racial injustice. I’m not opposed to using art as a platform to communicate something really heavy or political or spiritual. Artists have a very long track record for using the language of art to communicate on very serious levels. Look at Goya and the sketches he did during the wars he experienced. Look at the piece he did of Saturn devouring his son. That was a completely political piece of art. Look at the work of Salvador Dali. Most of it was dealing with his outrage at the corruption in the Catholic Church.
…my angst is not my subject matter with my artwork.
The thing is, my angst at the political situation in our country, racial justice, how we as Americans treat immigrants or refugees is not usually what I depict with my artwork. I do think about these things a lot and am very willing to express my opinions verbally, but usually, my angst is not my subject matter with my artwork.
Why do I paint “pretty things?” Probably because even as a kid, I’d see a photo of a beautiful place and wonder what was over that hill or around that curve in the road, and I’d imagine. I was drawn in. That’s why I paint, and that’s what I paint today. Look, this world is sometimes a dark, confusing and frustrating place. Do we really need “serious” art all the time? I for one am very happy to add beauty to this planet as my contribution. That is my “calling” if you will, and my artwork is just a small part of that. This calling is what makes me get up in the morning. It’s what I’m about.
Beauty and peace and curiosity and awe…I think the world needs more of that and so, I’ll save my political opinions for the pub. Catch me there and I’m fine unloading. But when I paint, I have something I believe is more important (and more needed) than my political views or my angst with society and I feel pretty good about that, thank you very much.
