Photograph(c)William Buck of Pacific Pinnacles.The Spanish Dancer nudibranch (a type of sea slug), introduced to me by Gooseflesh, it reminded her of my shibori felt ! When I was at art college I wanted my art to be unique and not like anyone else's, although I was quite traditional in my approach - drawings and paintings of my favourite objects were my chosen theme. Then one day my tutor said to me that my work was like that of a painter called William Scott. I had never heard of him and went straight to the library to find a book about him - that was it for me - I knew then it was hopeless. Here was everything I wanted to be, already done by someone else ! He became my biggest influence.
Since then I have realised that we cannot exist alone and be autonomous in our art. And the thing that unites our work is to be found most of all in nature. I love to doodle with no forethought and I see elements of my interior self - organ-like forms and cell-like structures. I feel like I am drawing what is inside me - literally !
Since joining flickr and meeting hundreds of new artists worldwide I am amazed at how much variety and uniqueness there is out there. There is a new museum just opened in Germany called The Museum of Plagiarism . I am all for it ! I am going in search of more sea slugs ....
9 comments:
I always reckon nudibranch is a great word. Stuck for something to say? Nudibranch. Much nicer than sea slug. And much more appropriate for their elegance.
Yes i agree it is no good worrying about uniqueness and such. It is a very modern preoccupation that we should have overcome with postmodernity. Just an abberation in the history of art reflecting an era of self-centredness. Or something like that.
i agree with jade. i also agree that nudibranch is a wonderful word and could come in very handy when at a loss for words.
I'm seeing nudibranchs attached to different parts of the human body.
mmmmmm!!! Such a challenge to speak with one's own voice. Interesting post Mandy....... I spend a lot of time pondering this too.
NUDIBRANCH!
Really interesting post. Yes, that worry/fear/delusion of wanting to make something unique will always creep up now and then, but like you I've learned to kind of go with an idea anyway, no matter and because etc.... Many people freeze up artistically because they feel they will never be 'as good as' or have ideas 'better than'. Even children have these concerns and I find this sad because something I've always loved about kids is their apparent lack of inhibitions... not quite so.
So many of us speak English, using the same words, but what we say comes uniquely from us. We would not read so many blogs otherwise!
I too am a great admirer of William Scott. I think that he is much underrated and should be more widely known.
Interesting stuff.
The picture of the Nudibranch fascinates me .I find it incredible that it even exists...I should get out more! William Scott is also a favourite of mine.
Wish I'd known when I was younger that there was no point worrying about such things as is my work unique,fashionable,new,important.Those foolish thoughts led to a lot of wasted time.
I just checked out gooseflesh's gorgeous sea-creatures and come to your blog and find another weird and wonderful one! So many connections... and we can get sparked of my finding them and moving on from them into our own spheres of thinking and making. But I know what you mean about this wanting to be original, although I know it's an obsolete concept it can still sting me sometimes when I see that another artist somewhere else has made an almost identical piece to one that I've been working on.
Learned a new word today! Nudibranch? Nudibranch! Weird and wonderful too.
great post. i am still thinking. words have not formed yet. except nudibranch! wow.
hello- thanks for the comments in my blog- nice to meet another UK based blogger, seems like 99% of blogs I read are based elsewhere. I hope you manage to get to some of those shows I mention.
Post a Comment