Ponderables
From the National Encaustic Conference, a list of questions asked by Kay WalkingStick in her workshop (as reported by Linda Womack). These are wonderful questions; questions that I wish that someone had asked me 20 years ago – and then asked them again annually. These are questions that cut to the heart of making art and why we do it.
- Do you spend at least a couple of hours in the studio every day? (about half of the people in the room were able to say yes, but Kay said that was better than she thought it would be.)
- What is your goal for your art career? (Have your work shown in a museum, pay your bills and feed your family or somewhere in between — it’s all valid)
- What are you looking for when you go to look at art? Does your work fulfill that need?
- Who is your favorite artist and what do you expect their art to do for you?
- What subject do you want to investigate?
- How to do conceptualize your work? How do you begin (through color, image, idea)?
- How are your pieces related to one another, if at all?
- What symbolism are you trying to convey?
- Who is your audience? What do you want your audience to see?
In reading Kay WalkingStick’s own artist statement, she reflects a little on these questions herself:
“I initially painted landscape in the mid 1980s. My question then was, what does landscape visually imply? What does the earth convey to us metaphorically, and how can I use this visual trope to express my personal take on our late 20th c. experience? I continue to explore these questions but their meanings have seemed to change as I change.”
June 22nd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
That’s right: these are the questions!
Dear Serena, your’s is a very inspiring blog.
I love it.
Agostina
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I like the questions, but I’m a little confused by #3. Does it mean that when you go to look at art, it’s because of a need to fulfill something in your own art? I think I look at art for pleasure and usually find inspiration. It’s not clear to me what the question is asking.
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
agostina, nice work. My Italian is ‘rusty’ (to be nice about it), but I love what I saw at the saachi site: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile//82765.html
“MaryY – Question #3 – What are you looking for when you go to look at art? Does your work fulfill that need?”
I don’t honestly know since I didn’t write the question.
What it says to me is: What art do you like to go see and why? Are you making art that fulfills that need (for myself or others) – and why or why not…
June 25th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Ah. Then the question could be asking “would others go to look at my work in the way I enjoy looking at the work of others”?