12×12” acrylic in search of a new visual language
Every artist has experienced a rut, or hit a wall. It’s part of the process. The solution is to break out without breaking your style. Once you have created a body of work, your collectors expect your style to remain within that range. At some point, it can become crippling.
I often criticize artists who find a unique style and spend the rest of their lives recreating the same thing. That, to me is how art becomes craft. Repetition does not stretch the imagination or break boundaries. It limits creativity to a very narrow range of options.
When I turn that same criticism to my own work, I’m feeling a bit too much similarity. Each character is unique, but predictability is creeping in. When does maintaining an established style become repetitive? About now…
It’s the artist’s responsibility to explore. There are no guarantees that the result will be better or even successful. But if you’re not willing to take risks, you’re never going to do anything new.
For years I have had an itch to create a series of large abstract paintings. I don’t know if I am more interested in the potential result or the physicality of pushing a large brush across a wall-sized canvas. I can no longer ignore the inevitable. In the past month, I have painted several small abstracts.
Does this mean I am walking away from my current body of work to return to two-dimensions? I don’t know. I suspect this diversion will ultimately impact how I paint the surfaces of my sculptures. I also anticipate the shapes of those sculptures may soon shift to more abstract shapes.
The journey continues. Future updates to come.