Life drawing
Loved this sketch – so vulnerable yet so relaxed. Have turned it into an etching – available soon…
18th MARCH 2014
Thoughts & Sketches
To expose or not to expose? That is the question…
‘To expose, or not to expose oneself; that is the question’.
In the maelstrom of social media I find myself asking ‘What do you want to see?’
Do you want an artist to remain a dark, mysterious, curious enigma? Does that cause you to be interested, intrigued and mystified; does it drive you to delve further, and want a piece of this mysterious specimen?
You may genuinely, deeply and passionately love the artists work. Each piece may bring you thought-provoking inspiration, awe, and deep connection to another human being, another concept, another fascinating way to view life. The paint covered Messiah leading you towards light or dark, insight or confusion, hope or despair. But moving you, poking at your consciousness, stirring the muddy pool, making you look and look and think and feel.
Will this curio and their work become less intriguing and less valuable to you if they tweet about their breakfast, their car tax or their galloping dandruff?
Does this caped-crusader lose their super powers if people view the artist’s ‘selfie’?
Would it ruin things to know the artist you admire or cling on to is human? That they eat and sleep and pay bills and worry, albeit wearing slightly different life-goggles. Would it help you to connect more to them and their work if you knew that they are more like you than you realised? Perhaps they posses planet-sized, exploratory, skewed-minds firing off in all directions; seeing what others don’t, connecting the obscure, feeling the emotions of the Universe. Or perhaps, oh my God, they do the school run, make packed lunches, and do the washing just like you. Or perhaps they are both of these things.
Would it make you love them more if you could explore their normality, or would it spoil the magic and undermine the brilliance and insight of their work?
Do we want someone mysterious to admire, or someone just like us?
Do you want an artist to be human or an enigma?
So I ask my question once more ‘to expose or not to expose oneself; that is the question’…….
17th MARCH 2014