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When I Talk About my Art
Artists are always called on to make an “Artist’s Statement.” This may be for an exhibition, or for requesting money for a grant or for a resume. I have written dozens of these statements in my time. I took a look at some of them and discovered that I had pretty much said the same thing, in different ways, in most of them. This is, at least for the time being, my definitive last word right now. When asked about how I would talk about my work, this is what it is about as best I can describe it at this time. My work is about the transformation of everyday life into visual images that I represent as abstractions or nonobjective art. There is nothing realistic about my intentions although I do incorporate dreams, memories, unconscious thoughts and other ideas which use recognizable figures and objects in the art I produce. Although the result is abstract, the sources are very real to me. Everything I see and all of my experiences — personal and psychological — metamorphose into symbolic representations. When these are expressed in my paintings and drawings they become form and color and composition. I invent the shapes and give them life in the world of the canvas. These forms and shapes take on personality in my mind and become signals functioning as stimuli to the viewer’s imagination and, I hope, will invite individual observation and response. My compositions often refer to the passage of time by the use of repetition of specific shapes that are manipulated to create an allusion of movement. Color and its uses are very important and it is integral to my sensibilities regarding my art. I spend a lot of time thinking about the color relationships and my selections of color schemes is definitely not accidental. I know that what I see in my mind’s eye is not going to be what other people may visualize. Yet, if someone looking at my art can make the connection for themselves and experience some kind of emotional response, I am satisfied that I have communicated my vision to others. Of course, most of the time when I exhibit a new drawing or painting, I have no idea whether or not anyone gets it. I may never see most of the people who view the work. These works of art go out into the world on their own and begin to have a life of their own. Sometimes when someone buys a painting, I may know who the collector is, or I may not. People may buy my art and then I never know anything about them or what has become of the piece. Occasionally a collector may contact me to tell me that they still love the painting they own. Recently I got such an e-mail message and I was invited to visit my painting. I did so and it was truly a pleasure to see that it had held up very well. Not only aesthetically, but in the careful construction of the canvas and the frame. I was pretty pleased with my workmanship. I have been reviewing my more than forty years of painting and drawing so the slides can be transferred to digital form. In so doing, I noticed that I have used some of the same shapes in different ways, over and over again. This leads me to conclude that artists carry with them an unconscious visual dictionary which is always referred to in their work and which is a part of their expressive language. This personal autograph exists for realist painters and for abstract artists like myself. After I came to this conclusion the next series of paintings I planned was called “A catalog of Virtue Series” because I believe this title best indicates this idea of an artists catalog of images. I have included some of these paintings here. Of one thing I am certain. Whatever else anyone may wish to think about it, I believe my art offers an exploration into an invented, fantastic world where aesthetic and visual pleasure assure intellectual and emotional awareness. If I didn’t have this feeling of self confidence regarding myself as an artists, I doubt if I would be able to continue to engage in this work. Mainly because I am not making my art only for my own edification, I really believe that it is important and valuable and I need to know that other people will enjoy seeing it. Even if they don’t, I’ll still continue making art, in whatever way I can, for the rest of my life. One way I find out what some people say they think about my art is on my products page at Julier's Gallery . There it is the very nice custom for viewers to leave remarks on “your wall.” These remarks may or may not sincere but I feel gratified when I read them because I mean them sincerely when I leave them for other artists.
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Contributor's Note
It takes a lot of effort to try and pin down exactly what I think I am doing. I hope I made myself clear.
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http://www.julierichman.com
| http://www.abstractandincolor.com
| http://www.siempreflamenco.com
    
Catalog of Virtue Series 2
Catalog of Virtue Series 3
Catalog of Virtue Series 4
Catalog of Virtue Series "Blue Eagle"
Catalog of Virtue "Flight"
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That's interesting. You've made me think. As a hobbyist, I've never really sat back and created an "artist's statement." I think it would come out something like this. "I love playing with the materials. I love being able to render things that I love accurately, whether that's hawks or seascapes or my cat or other people. The better I learn to draw and paint, the more I see in everything and the more I enjoy life. When I do it right, everyone can see what I saw and they feel about it the way they do, because they're who they are. One person may dread hawks, another love them, but if I get it right, the hawk is there in all its aspects." Of course I'm more of a realist than anything else, and just starting to leave photorealism for realism better-than-photo.
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