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Front Cover image: Mary Barton, Dirty old studio oil and pigments on canvas 2014
Worlding
The world is essentially unfathomable and ungraspable. Our view of it is always going to be a fragment,
a construction that allows our consciousness to be in the world. We can see paintings as a way of
constructing understanding, while never complete, and never correct, they give shape to the world
(worlding the world) even as they take shape from it.
Though saturated in tradition, Painting is a medium full of ambiguity; it has a complexity of meaning that
allows it to draw on multiple areas at once. Viewing a painting is an Aesthetic experience that precipitates
criticality. The act of painting is instrumental in finding meaning; in the unconcealment of being in the
world. Leaving room for meaning and truth to emerge as an experience for the viewer.
The Patchwork Castle
For millenniums painting has been the go to art form. Archaic, a towering castle built in every style,
it is the home of a thousand generations. It has been associated with all the major changes in society,
embroiled with all the unsavoury power hierarchies and prejudices that came along with that. There are
rooms that sparkle, rooms of ergonomic clarity, and crumbling ballrooms. A colossal warren of possible
paths and dwellings. In the 20th Century its value and long standing position as the centre of the canon
has been questioned, making room for other art forms and opening up new realms of possibility for what
art is. This is all good; we have come a long way. But there are some who still hope to explore the castle.
Maybe there is something left to salvage. However, those who enter beware, if you stay in a space too
long it may collapse around you, and when that happens you may decide that an extension is needed, that
old room wasnt working anymore, your new room will need to be built with the strength of complexity.
But perhaps you will make your way to the top of the tower. Up there, teetering in the wind you can
ambitiously draw styles and building techniques from the rest of the home. Some of the foundations are a
little shaky but from here you can see the horizon.
The Horizon
This is the reason you might enter the castle in the first place. The tangled mess that is painting, its
contrasting histories, techniques and styles, builds to a horizon of complex possibilities. Its strength
is non-verbal, visual nature, which embraces complexity. A paintings beauty; the aesthetic experience,
traditional or otherwise, can generate a criticality in itself1: when a viewer perceives something as beautiful,
they are already convinced by the content of the painting, not the physical content, but the emotional felt
experience. The viewer understands through the experience, not a literal concept or lingual reasoning, but
rather a rhizomatic2 displacement of their reality into the reality of the painting.
Stacking Stones
To reach the horizon you must build. And it is in the process of constructing that we discover the
building. The world is un-concealed to us through engaging with it, in a sense we create the world by
engaging with it. We are Worlding the world3. Painting discovers worlds of understanding though our
engagement with it. I am pleased to introduce a group of artist/masons that I believe are working in
this way, letting the painting lead itself. All of the artists in this project continually experiment and have
ambitions that hold their own; resisting categorisation. They are motivated to find meaning beyond a
literal reading of the image painted. Ambitious in their complexity, their paintings tackle heavy, entangled
subjects, such as figuration, deep space, time emotional states and beauty.
Harry Zed Hughes
The Artists
Michael Armstrong
Jacob Baglin
Mary Barton
Benjamin Baker
Harry Zed Hughes
Adele Kava
Nick Ryrie
Chaohui Xie
2
exit points.
Deleuze and Guattari use the terms rhizome and rhizomatic as an image of thought, that allows for multiple, non-hierarchical entry and
3
Martin Heidegger popularized the term Worlding in his 1927 Being and Time to mean being-in-the-world. The idea was to use a verb signifying something ongoing
and generative, which could not be reduced to either a philosophical state or a scientific materiality. from http://worlding.org/what-in-the-world-2/
Jacob Baglin
Jacob Baglin: Go out and get someone drunk and
record them,
Harry Zed Hughes: just so you know this is an
interview
JB: Yeah that would be a good way
HZH: So why do you paint Jacob?
JB: Its simply the most exciting occupation. Every
picture is another endeavour. At the moment it
helps me to stay alive, every day, and not stop living.
Its the most exciting thing I could think of.
HZH: And are you trying to do a particular thing
when you paint?
JB: Well I am trying to do a particular thing, um is
there anything? Im not quite sure what you mean.
Like a concept? Like an idea?
HZH: For instance you go and look at a place,
maybe you could talk a bit about the process of how
that works, because thats kind of not something a
lot of people do, at VCA anyway.
JB: Yeah so I try to walk around where I live, the
most immediate, well when I dont have anything,
when im not sure what to do, I try and walk around
in the early morning or in the twilight. And just try
and find something that sticks out to me....When I
was finishing an essay on Cezanne I went for a walk
in the morning, after Id been up all night, and I
went to the tram bridge, and I found something that
ive been drawing for a couple of months and didnt
know how to do it. I went back there to draw, and
then I just took 5 steps back, I just stepped back,
and then it locked itself, it made sense as to what I
wanted to do with it. And I had been just writing
about cezan doing that, stepping two steps to the
right and the whole painting was completely, two
steps to the right and he can occupy himself for
another 3 months on the same subject. So then I
just start drawing, I try to draw it as much as I can,
I just keep on drawing everyday and then I start a
painting.
we have...
photoshop.
Through the actual process of painting,i begin to
change them further, distort and play with these
photos, sort of deducting evidence and adding on
fabrications to a collage of memories that dont
necessarily have any direct relationship with each
other.
Adele Kava
HZH: Why do you
paint?
Adele KavAK: I
paint because Im
too verbose to use
other mediums in
communicating
an idea, but
communicating ideas
or narratives seems
to be really important
to me. The actual
process of painting
is something Im
incredibly drawn to,
and creating work
seems natural to me
as Ive been doing
it for most of my
life. Art is also an
arguably more open
system than other
narrative forms - one
that forces you to
acknowledge anyones
authorship of meaning. This forces me to be less
concerned with being didactic and more concerned
with the multitude of meanings and impressions
that I can create, which I think is a more interesting
space to exist in creating work, rather than a simple
statement, art and painting within that is defined
more as a question.
HZH: What is your relationship to figurative
painting?
AK: I have a complicated relationship with figurative
painting. I started as a completely photo-realistic
figurative painter, which I still hold my roots in,
but Ive become more interested in negotiating the
relationship between figuration and abstraction (as
well as other thematic qualities). It allows me to
create and engage with certain levels of surrealism
and familiarity which allows me to stay engaged with
the work I create through it being both familiar and
foreign visually. It also adds an element of anxiety to
making work because I cant predict how my work
will end up looking, which sounds really masochistic,
but it allows me to be involved and committed to
creating a piece until the end.
HZH: Im interested in the element of anxiety
and how you cant predict how your work will end
up looking to a certain point. do you find that the
feelings and concepts behind a particular painting
shift as youre painting it? Please tell me bout your
painting process?
AK: My painting process is pretty involved in the
internet, and I have no qualms with being labelled
as an internet artist. I begin on forums, microblog
platforms, and other social media websites to
find imagery that visually strikes me. A lot of this
content which tends to resonate with me comes
from extreme experiences of people my own
age - imagery of isolation, drunkenness, love and
lust. Most of these images come from people who
I dont know directly and who attempt to make
some kind of duration of their life or memories of
their life onto the internet, or attempt to document
others. My work is concerned with the filters that
people put onto their lives with those actions, and
the filters and distortions that I as a viewer and
creator put onto that by witnessing it and displaying
it second-hand. Mostly Im concerned with the
malleability of memory and the further distortion of
that through social media, even if that isnt directly
referenced in my paintings.
I then create a collage of these images which may
be painted or mocked up through sketches or
Benjamin Baker
HZH: Why do you paint?
Benjamin Baker: I paint for a number of reasons. Firstly, that
currently I am studying painting, so I should paint right? But secondly
I paint because unfortunately I am not invincible, and so, I am unable
to outrun my demons. Ever. Therefore I find painting is an excellent
sedative, second to sex.
For me, painting is a safer way to communicate honestly with people
around me rather than say speaking. But more so I find that I am able
to use the process of painting to better navigate my internal dialogue.
I paint because I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy looking at a surface and
trying to imagine something that doesnt exist.
HZH: What is your relationship to figurative painting?
BB: Figurative painting as in paintings of a figure? Or more
specifically recognition of a figure? I dont know Its so hard to
determine when I am and when I am not painting figuratively. If it
were determined by recognition of a figure then one would say there
is almost always someone or something present in my work.
Unless I am painting a portrait from a sitter in front of me I really
prefer to just push paint around mindlessly. I find that I am much
more stimulated by the intermingling of colour and line. Whenever
I am painting figuratively I tend to be more stressed about detail
and the quality of recognition. Although I have grown to be more
comfortable with the result by thinking about the final figurative
work being viewed more as an impression of a person rather than
attempting to immortalise their being entirely.
HZH: When is painting contemporary? and can it be new?
BB: If you are a person who makes art, in this day, then you are
a contemporary artist. If you do it enough, for lots of years, and
bug people endlessly to see your point of view, you too are a
contemporary artist. If you believe that you have created something
new, you are incorrect. To be original whilst holding a paintbrush is a
thing of the past.
Unless you stood there...White knuckled, waiting
And after a few weeks you would drop dead very slowly through sepia
lensed glasses and they will say: He was painting and then you will
get SO many likes, and you will have done something new. Well Done. Yes it can
be new, but new is not necessarily original or unique.
HZH: How important is beauty in art?
I feel like its relevance in art isnt to be measured or assessed. There are far more
interesting elements in art. Whether or not art is beautiful is up to the viewer.
BB: Contemporary society now promotes a broad idea of beauty. I think this
enables a larger platform for the production of work and in turn produces a
broader mindset whilst viewing the work in question, therefore broadening the
interpretation of the work Well for some people at least.
HZH: Tell me about your painting process.
BB: I find the best way to start working is to ensure you have an efficient
workspace. All my materials are accessible around me. Normally its a hesitation
at the start. I never really know what I am doing, so that first mark is pretty hard
to make. It really is a collection of marks, following on one after the other. Each
step taken on a painting allows room for another. Until a certain point is reached
where there is a seemingly full and complete composition. When there is a whole
lot of material interacting with its surroundings I normally reach a point where I
am either too bored with the painting or I am happy with what I have produced.
Although I would say that no painting is ever finished.
HZH: What makes a painting work?
BB: I think that having a strong visual vocabulary is really important. To be able
to understand how colours interact with each other.
Time. When you observe a stagnant object and it vibrates with process.
On first glances if you are entirely unsure what it is that you are looking at,
Its even better when you still cant figure it out ten minutes and another FREE
champagne later...Also if the artist has faith in the quality of his work I believe
that can translate across to the viewer.
HZH: How does painting and the erotic relate to you?
I find that I am constantly referencing the erotic in my paintings. I think because
its something I am pretty driven by. I like experiencing the way that people react
when confronted with Erotica. Some react negatively and that only fuels my
interest. Using motifs relating to sex is a pretty common theme in my current
work. I like to disguise the shapes and actions among a composition. I enjoy
knowing that people will view my work and hopefully see the same. Plus, dicks
are hilarious.
Nick Ryrie
HZH: why did you move to painting as a medium of choice?
Nick Ryrie: Because I guess it provides immediate feedback, which is
great when you have a short attention span
HZH: when is painting contemporary? (can it be new?)
NR: Anything anyone produces in real time is contemporary, everything
is burdened by history, so whenever viewing something we are going to
read into it, this is only natural, its what you do with your thoughts, I
guess it really comes down to individual perception.
HZH: Tell me about your painting process? how much of the end of the
painting is in your sight, and what do you let shift?
NR: I begin with the end in sight, over the course of painting I might
change tones back and forth, but I try and keep it all pretty regular, thats
the point of my painting, to repeat a formula over and over, that dictates
the overall image.
HZH: What makes a painting work?
NR: Questions, space, time and gravity
HZH: When we were in your studio you spoke about avoiding literal
figurative reading in your work, why is this so?
NR: Because the experience of reality is so much more than just a specific
narrative of one person or an event, everything has an off shoot which
is linked to something else and so on. See when we look at a figure we
are mirroring ourselves, our ideas, experiences, morals and values etc, this
attracts other connotations, they may be social or political for example
and so on, what I am trying to say is that the meaning grows and opens
up. For me successful work sits outside or beyond this, in a space of nonmeaning, it almost dumbs the viewer. I find this refreshing in a world
full of meaning and control. To put it simply, I guess I put importance on
the other (earth, sea, universe etc), i feel this is the driving force behind
the work. Communication and relationships between humans becomes
complicated and distracting, detouring us from the importance of staying
connected to the land.
Michael Armstrong
Michael Armstrong: [talking about process] So I tend to
accidentally work in series. Ill obsess over an image and as I develop
that other images tend to show up. I try to move away from the photo
though. Try to move in the space between recognition of the image. In
the sense that I dont think of myself as a photorealist painter
I like to try paint the image as if I were looking at it underwater.
Harry Zed Hughes
ahh, thanks michael. It sounds like its tied in to your valuing of painting
as a slow process... and what do you think makes a painting work?
Also you mentioned moving away from the photo, what do you think
figurative painting can do that cannot be achieved in a photograph?
MA: Its intuitive. Sometimes you think you know what works and then
it stagnates
It seems to be aligned with where my mind is when Im making it.
If I try and be the painter while Im painting then the work reflects that
in a negative way
Thats largely why I stopped doing portraits from life
When you tell someone youre a painter and they take that to mean
someone who paints houses for a living. Thats a better space to work in
personally than trying to position yourself with all the hero painters of
history.
HZH: You work in abstract as well as semi figurative styles, what do you
find separates them from one another? Or what are the differing areas
of of thought that you are mindful of between the two?
MA: It comes from working from old photos of people and trying
to move away from a depiction of specific individuals. The abstract
element in my work is to give a universal. Less moments in time and
more roles people identify with. Its exchange between people and in
themselves that Im interested in. The abstraction and colour is used for
that reason. But I dont identify as an abstract painter.
Embodying a situation
for a period of time
with the constant
awareness that it is not
the singular permanent
experience.
HZH: Thats exactly it.
We can be certain that
everything is uncertain.
After reading what
you just wrote I want
to go and paint....The
world is essentially
unfathomable and
ungraspable. our view
of it is always going to
be a fragment, and a
construction that allows
our consciousness to
be in the world. and
we could say paintings
are constructions of
understanding, that are
never complete, and
never correct
MA:I dont know that
painting represents
different worlds. It
represents possible
worlds and I think
theres a lot of
possibilities in that
spectrum. I get the
same thought when I
engage with anyone
who just isnt creative
which is okay heres
one of those people
who dont come from
your world
Contemporary art is the acupuncture of human
consciousness.
HZH: And probably always has been (even before
contemporary art was a concept)
Chaohui Xie
Harry: You dont feel like you can be serious with
your painting?
Chaohui Xie: yes, when youre being serious you
look pretty ridiculous, because you dont know
what kind of painting comes out from under the
brush so its not fun anymore, when I look at
other peoples paintings, they look like they are all
running to the truck you know? .Whatever you
do, people will say ahh you know this is somebody
elses style? and you know Im sick and tired of
hearing that.
Ulysses wandered with his rowing oar over his shoulder. He was told to keep wandering until no
person recognised the oar for what it was. He wandered until he was asked what it was he carrying on
his shoulder? Was it perhaps some kind of winnowing hook? Ulysses knew then that he had found the
place. In that place he stuck his oar in the ground. It may be seen that each of us, artists and others
alike, are wandering carrying on our shoulders, a burden. What is the burden? What does it mean when
we come to a place where none recognise our burden? And what is it if we stick our oar in the ground
at that place.
Paul Northey
Many works of the past (and of the present) complete what they
announce they are going to do, to our increasing boredom. Certain
others plague me because I cannot follow their intentions. I can
tell at a glance what Fabritius is doing, but I am spending my life
trying to find out what Rembrandt was up to. (Philip Guston)