The Process of Painting "The Blind Can See"
The tribute to Phyllis and Lyn Ott, continued
In my tribute painting to Phyllis and Lyn Ott I want to try to capture the same deconstruction that I found in Lynn's final painting of Meher Baba. However, I cannot follow Lyn to the place from which he created his essential glimpse of the One. I cannot understand the work of DeKooning (who inspired Lyn) enough to imitate him, nor can I bring myself to paint without the use of my eyes as an excercise to find some essence of my faith in a pure form.
In searching for a style that comes close, but one for which I can find the resource necessary to learn how to do, I choose the later works of Jackson Pollock. By physically removing himself from direct contact with the painting and dripping, spraying or throwing paint on canvas, Pollock turns process and materials into the central focus of the art instead of composition and form. Pollock does not limit his materials to paint and includes pocket stuff (match sticks, coins, keys, nails, buttons and other found materials) in order to break away from convention. Like Lyn, I want to maintain some central icon to represent my intent, so I borrow the likeness of Baba he uses in Balancing Of The Universal Mind And The Universal Heart. Still, I do not want a portrait of Baba that is pinned to tradition in the center of deconstructed expressionism. I also want to expand from Pollock’s style by losing some of the structure in hopes of reducing the burden of form and capturing more of the extreme found in DeKooning’s work.
Part of the solution is to paint the face of Meher Baba with sand (some of which is gathered from the beach on the Meher Center) and limiting recognizable intentional form to the eyes, nose and mustache. This distances the portrait from convention, but not so far that I had to sacrifice the likeness of Meher Baba altogether.
Painting Without Painting
With all of this distance, I still find the painting cohesive, and I can find my own intent everywhere. My final answer is from the heavens in the form of rain. The painting is under a carport, but not completely protected from the elements. The high humidity during two drenching thunderstorms allows areas to flow after the paint film has begun to solidify. When this happens I fall back on some of what I have learned in creating my “fluid style” paintings and coerce the paint into forming unique areas and textures. Like the director of a play, I get to choose and influence the actors (or paint in this case), but after opening night it is no longer under my control. In the same way this work becomes collaboration between the paint, the elements and me. It is not possible for an artist to completely remove himself from art and have it maintain any meaning as art, but there are potentialities at extremes that allow for a great deal of intent without leaving behind a trail of brushstrokes and technique.
In the end I think the painting expresses (at least for me) what I have seen in Lyn’s last painting of Meher Baba and some of what I think he sees in DeKooning’s. In a sense both express an artistic blindness in order to see some purity supporting the art, thus the title The Blind Can See. If such honesty can be achieved, then that is what I want as the subtext or underpainting for all of my work -- by the Grace of God.
Related Off-Site Links for Willem DeKooning
For selected later DeKooning paintings from a MOMA exhibit,
click here.
To see famous DeKooning Paintings,
click here.
For Willem DeKooning bio and paintings at the Guggenhiem,
click here.
To find Willem DeKooning on the Internet,
click here.
Related Off-Site Links for Jackson Pollock
For a bio and large gallery at the WebMuseum,
click here.
For a Jackson Pollock on-line exhibit from a MOMA,
click here.
To read the article "Jack the Dripper" and find other resources,
click here.
To find Jackson Pollock on the Internet,
click here.
