Clear Abstractions

CLEAR ABSTRACTIONS

A crystal sculpture requiring over 300 hours to create might sound arduous at best, especially given the impatient world we live in today. However as an artist, I crave these quiet intimate moments bonded to one's work to simply experience the fourth dimension of the creative process.

I am unaware of time and place during these moments, and have experienced many times the outer body experience which comes with it. One's focus and concentration so intent on the physical creation, that one is totally unaware of application or skill, caught in a state of mind where conscious thought is not part of the execution.

I become simply the conduit until the moment of completion when that role changes to becoming observer. It has fascinated me that the brain can turn "on" this switch of creativity, whilst turning "off" it seems our conscious analytical mind in an effort to not interfere with the end result.

Marathon runner's experience a form of this and call it the "Inner Game," the moment when physically exhausted, all pain seems to disappear as endorphin's kick in to create the natural high needed to take them to the finish line in a transcendental state. So after many years of experiencing the creative process in this manner, I wanted to experiment with seeing if a more immediate process and result would be any less satisfying.

So with CLEAR ABSTRACTIONS I decided to revisit some old photographs I had taken of my crystal sculpture, and found an instant love in abstracting these images by computer. The process was enlightening in its speed and in opening up a new portal of idea's. Photographic negative images made as abstractions gave me a diverse color palette to work with, and reminded me of the artistic interpretation's, freedom and flexibility jazz provided as an art form.

David Hockney once said that completing a painting always required the hand to move through time at the speed and dexterity of the artist, whereas with abstract photography there was an immediate result and a greater opportunity to actually reveal more of the subject. As a crystal artist for over 25 years I had experienced the process of the painter, an investment in time and patience with the experiential reward of the "Inner Game" feeling. But with this more immediate process I am finding a new freedom of expression, and a greater curiosity for revealing the colors and shades of life which interest me.