Am I a folk artist? I don't know. Maybe. A friend of my wife recently made the association, and I've been contemplating it. When I see folk art I see honesty, integrity, and earnestness. I can identify with that. And often a whimsical lightness. Hmm. Maybe in places. There is a regularity of mark making that is at odds with the "expressive" mark making of my education. And that correlates. I am quite a way away by now from my education by abstract expressionists. My mark making is quite regular... What else? Humble subject matter. Still life and animal forms. Bucolic scenes such as Grandma Moses favored... Well, the still life matches up... There is a naïveté in folk art that I've always admired, the anti-academic attitude of raw and unfiltered observation that I've always admired. But it's a little late to claim that in my work, isn't it? I've always liked the art of Polish artist Morris Hirshfield. Of course. Who wouldn't? But he was self taught and very brave. I can no longer claim to be self taught. Nor very brave, really. I haven't taken a lot of chances in my art life... His work is very stylized, something my teachers always said was wrong. Very wrong. I have been inclined towards it, mostly for its graphic strength, but school steered me away from it. So I have avoided it over the years. But is it coming back to my work? Maybe. Maybe. Just thinking out loud this morning...
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