Statement:
I have been exploring the
poetic and metaphorical qualities of the paint that wanted to escape. For some
time now I have pondered what paint would want to be if it were free from the
pull of the paint brush, free from the call of the canvas and able to climb,
crawl slide and sneak away from the perils of the palette.
What if paint rose
to the Modernist claim that paint should refer to itself, in an ironic attempt
to adapt itself to this cul de sac of a command?
Well it has, small creature
like forms have taken shape and wait to be adored and admired for what they
really are. The possibilities are endless in paints' quest to be itself...it no
longer wants to be Other! It wants to be free.... and its time to set it free!
That's all I have to say on the matter.
The‘ Paint Creature Project’.
Regarding
process and practise: The‘ Paint Creature Project’ is somewhat of a unambiguous
digression, though one might also say distraction. As my main focus since
graduating, has been on painting, on the canvas - as is conventional.
These blithe little creatures wish
to continue to evolve and winning the WWsolo award would enable them to continue
doing so within the well-advised and mentored context of a well-established,
contemporary art gallery. With the backing of professionals I feel the
possibilities are literally endless. The paint creatures have unbounded
potential and there are many tangents to be explored. The project is still in
its infancy. I see whole scenarios unfolding. I see magnificent and absurd
sculptural potential waiting to be developed. However, to understand this fully
one must understand more about the process.
The creatures first evolved
naturally and independently, they appeared one day. I’d sit, as one does,
staring at my canvas and wondering what I was supposed to do next, and then
from the corner of my eye; or else, as my eyes scanned the myriad of colour
splattered and smudged, mixed and muted, cratered and convoluted across the
landscape of my palette, and I would witness the metamorphosis of the daubs and
squirts of oil paint into fantastical personified poetical little beings.
It occurred to me that the paint
wanted to be free! The irony for me was in realising that this notion at once
encapsulated and satirised the Modernist ‘cul de sac’ of dictates of the last
century. Aware of post modern arts’ rut, in appropriating and commenting on the
historical dictates of the past, in making the old new again in such a way that
old authority and Other is at once questioned and celebrated, respectively- it
occurred to me how well these
little creatures seemed to embody all of
these theories. The simplicity and poetry with which they were imbued delighted
me. I realised they could be so much more, which is as they wished. They shunned
the pummelling of the palette, the torture of the turpentine, and the chaos of
the canvas. They screamed out to be recognised for their inner truths. “We are
paint!” they declared from the plinths they crawled to.
However, at first I did not
listen. So sadly, their blitheness dissipated. Some fell into a great depression;
unsure of themselves they took to wandering; some attacked and adopted
cannibalistic behaviour; whilst others took to the turps. Then I listened! I
looked and learnt. And now I wait for the next steps to unfold. I am very
excited about the potential.
I would appreciate advice and
management and constructive criticism in developing the project further and
help, to put my work into a context, which is both aesthetic and soundly
embedded in contemporary theory. I would like exposure and support.
I see the creatures evolving
into a world of scenarios possibly in much the same way as Tessa Farmers work
explores the world of nature with natural found objects, so I wish to create
scenarios which explore the world of art theory and human behaviour, using the
visceral and anthropomorphic qualities of the paint.
Zoe Crosse
The work I am exhibiting in the show at Cultivate this month has a lot to do with allegory and myth. But as usual, in a very 'rhizomic,' beating about the bushes and following 'serendipidus' tangents, sort of way....
Although I have still been working with my usual process, referencing the photo and history, in a bid to re-invent a purpose for painting, whilst enjoying the possibilities thrown up by the materiality of the sticky stuff, I have been interested in the idea that meaning lies outside of a work.... to be post modern, one has to almost make the work meaningless? well, i couldn't help disagreeing...this time... and decided to break the rules by clearly referencing BEES! I know, it all sounds a bit wishy washy...buy hey someone has to stick up for the little guys....with out them ...we are pretty screwed!
"
The honeybees are dying — and we don’t really know why. That’s the conclusion of a massive Department of Agriculture (USDA) report that came out late last week on colony-collapse disorder (CCD), the catchall term for the large-scale deaths of honeybee groups throughout the U.S. And given how important honeybees are to the food that we eat — bees help pollinate crops....."
.... little doodles dotted around ...
