What do I have to say about my art?
As artists, we have to talk and write statements about our work. It is an important tool to let others know where we are coming from, what inspires us, what our message is.
I know that stories related to art are ‘selling features’ and I could now make one up - very dramatic and emotional - for each painting. But that’s not what I like to do. To me, the painting itself is the story and if one wants to listen, the art piece will tell it its story. And interestingly enough, the story will probably be different for every person. Isn’t it a very individual experience to look at art and to observe what’s happening by looking at it?
To be surrounded by paintings is the most wonderful experience – letting, the colours and ‘stories’ come and inspire, lift up, bring us to other places, show us a different view of things, make us aware and get us to places where we have never been before.
Recently I had a visitor in the Gallery where I was volunteering and he positioned himself directly in front of one of my paintings, stating: “I love that piece of art, I can’t tell you why, it just speaks to me”. That’s exactly what it is all about; and by him making that statement, I knew he understood my language without ever reading a written statement about it.
September 2011