Let's talk about abstraction

There was an interesting article in the Winter 2012 issue of Artnew New Zealand written by Sue Gardiner.  Gardiner looks at young New Zealand artists and how they see the field of abstraction as ripe for reinvention and compares their journey with that of pioneers like Gordon Walters.  This article also mentions our very own Simon McIntyre, Monique Jansen and Amber Wilson.

The article talks about 'materiality', 'thingness' and 'the process of making'.  There are artists such as Charlotte Watson who I responded to in her thinking as it appears similar to my practice work.  Watson says that abstraction gives her a sense of freedom and she seeks ways to remove herself from abstraction's history of symbolism and contextual meaning, or ideas of slickness and perfection.  She states: 'I remind myself always that I need to loosen up some more'.

Through the process of making I am forever reminding myself to loosen up.  I treat my practice as an experimentation, having to just keep making for work to evolve.  Which I know sounds simple enough, but so often we get caught up in the idea of worrying about what we are making, whether it will be right, what to make, that it can hinder the creation of new projects.  It also doesn't allow us to take chances, which is where the interesting developments can occur. Through the rethinking of the formal I am critiquing the history of art (which seems too large to get away from) and like Watson, the slickness and perfection that was prevalent.  Through the use of vibrant colour my aim is to add playfulness and a sense of humour in an attempt to keep the mood light.