To resonance

“My clearest memory as I grew up is of the intense resonance I felt with the abstract and the abstract aspects of traditional art. There were carefully preserved calendars at home of abstractionism, impressionism and renaissance art. These images were few compared to the wonderful images of gods, myths and epic tales we are all inundated with in our environment but what was it about abstraction that moves us? What is it that can have such power even though we are separated, as it were, by historical time and cultural distance? When there are no recognisable icons, no representation of the familiar for us to refer back to our particular culture, context or environment. When there is no story, no shared narrative, indeed no narrative at all to identify with. Why this resonance, especially on an uninitiated child?” he says.

The thought is also the focus of this show Resonance. “It’s about a communion with individuals, directly without the mediation of recognisable icons, without taking refuge in religious, nationalistic, colour or gender issues and without a narrative.”

But why is it necessary? “There are a million ideas when an artist indentifies with a thought. This becomes the creative seed and guides the process resulting in the work of the medium the artist is working with,” he explains.