squares² # 2 ~ common beauty / beauty in common

diversity, all linked together in my eye and mind • click to embiggenDuring my recent visit with the Curator at view, one of the points we discussed, re: my pictures, was the continuity in vision which is evident across my diverse (referent wise) bodies of work - a topic I recently addressed in the civilized ku # 2299-2305 / ku # 1160 / rain # 20-22 entry under the heading of "profligatographers":

Profligatographers, unlike many who make theme / referent related work, make unified bodies of work which are made coherent by their concentrated efforts on the simple act of seeing. Despite their seemingly promiscuous choice of picturing referents, a Profligatographer very often has a distinctive personal vision / manner of seeing which pulls everything together, body of work wise.

The Curator, after viewing all 5 of my folios, most definitely saw the overarching vision which I believe unifies all of my pictures. That is, with the possible exception of my single women pictures. She felt those pictures to be less controlled / structured than my other work, an assessment with which I agree.

My single women pictures are much more referent biased than most of my other pictures. In my other works, while the referents matter, there is much more visual evidence of the deliberative use of natural color, shapes, and space within the frame, all of which come together to create the design / form as viewed on the 2D surface of the print. And, IMO, it is the coming together of all of those elements which is the overarching visual bedrock of my vision, that is, a quality / characteristic which is most often described as "beautiful prints" (in and of themselves, independent of the referent).

That written, my pictures are more than just visual. Moving beyond the illustrative, my intent is to address / illuminate, picturing wise, what I consider to be the beauty to be found in the commonplace - those things which are looked at in the passing parade of everyday life but to which little attention is given. To bring attention to the fine details of everyday life as opposed to the grand spectacles thereof. That M.O. is, IMO, the other overarching implied bedrock of my vision.

To my eye and sensibilities, taken together, my explicitly stated (the referent / the illustrated) way of seeing and my implied (the illuminated) meaning(s), create the overarching totality of my vision. And, I don't believe it takes a genius to understand and/or see, in all of my work, that the visual quality of my prints emphatically underscores the implied meaning(s) to be had / found therein ..... beautiful prints + common stuff = common beauty.

Or perhaps, on the other hand, some of you might think that I and my pictures are full of s**t. In any case, opinions of all kinds are encouraged and welcome.

Comments

[ken bello]

I have admired your work since I started following your blog about 2 years ago and I agree with the "beauty to be found in the commonplace" ideology. I also admire the discipline of the constraints you place on your work as far as formatting to present a unified body of work. But what impresses me the most is the painstaking technical quality behind each piece which may not be obvious to the casual viewer but, as a technician at heart, I find an important attribute for any artist. I hate to admit a character flaw but a technically poor rendering of any subject is a waste of pixels. But I think any Curator will back me up on this one.