Artists Describing Their Art:
Kichung Lizee - After coming to this country from Korea in the mid 60's to study art, among the many forms of Western art that I was introduced to, Abstract Expressionism interested me most. Currently I am in the process of synthesizing Eastern and Western approaches to art. Specifically, I'm adopting the techniques and materials of Eastern calligraphy to Western thematic material, my primary goal being to close the gap between East and West and reach for universal creativity. Eastern calligraphy I learned is a living and breathing spirit, rather than the dead and rigid tradition of thousands of years. It is uniquely a form that conveys the pulsation of life energy. Through it, one can experience all aspects of the living spectrum. Eastern calligraphic form reveals the kind of life the artist has led, as well as foreshadowing the person one will become. It is the art form that manifests the self as a way of life or philosophy of life. It is a powerful art form that operates through direct intuition. As an artist I rely heavily on creative intuition. Moving with changes in the stream of consciousness, my creative intuition somehow brings out the subconscious and superconscious through ...
Stephen Mead - In the early 1990's Stephen Mead's poems began appearing in such journals as Onionhead, Bellowing Ark, and Invert, but upon moving to Provincetown, Mass., Stephen decided to concentrate more on visual work. It was in the year 2000, after moving back to NY, that Stephen started seeking publication again for both his writing and his art combined. Since, then, thanks to the wonders of the World Wide Web, his work has appeared internationally both in cyberspace, hard copy, and physical Gallery Space. Often the writing has appeared along side his paintings, and at other times with the text superimposed. In 2004 Stephen began experimenting even more with these poetry/art hybrids creating a series of e books, including the award winning "We Are More Than Our Wounds". From there Stephen began experimenting with his art and poems as films, at first creating slideshows with captions, and then doing his own soundtracks and voice overdubs. These DVDs are available through Indieflix.com In 2006 Stephen put this technology to use releasing a CD of poems set to music "Safe & Other Love Poems" (CDBaby.com), as well as two print editions of his image/art hybrids, "Selected Works" and "Tree ...
Rasheed Amodu - RASHEED AMODU Artist Statement I started as a professional artist in 1985, before adding a Fine Arts degree, specializing in Painting, in 1991. One of my major aims is to wed creativity and artistic rendering in my artwork leading to diverse range of themes in my oeuvre. My graphic art background in Realism and my degree aided abstractions as well as impressionistic and expressionistic tendencies are often reflected in my artwork, which include my drawings, paintings, mixed media, and assemblages. I draw with pencil, charcoal, penink, and gouache on paper or embossed cards. My oil or acrylic paintings are usually on canvas. I do mixed media on paper, embossed card, and canvas. My assemblages are works produced with commonplace objects or personal items arranged and fixed on hardboard before being painted with oil or acrylic for aesthetic finesse. Some of the objects employed in my assemblages are beads, fabrics, combs, watches, straps, chains, cards, belts, spoons, forks, pens, ropes, lighters, shaving sticks, plugs, and bottle covers. The sources of the images I used in my works are from my society, literature on African art and foreign cultures as well as personal synthesis. I employed my artwork to visually document the ...
George Kofas - Throughout history and in all cultures and civilizations, art has reflected either the Earthly or the Spiritual. Specifically in the art of painting, certain artists have attempted to address Spiritual issues and their interrelationship with the Physical, or Natural World. Caspar David Friedrich, Wassily Kandinsky and Mark Rothko were among such artists. All three of these artists were involved in exploratory aesthetic journeys. Such journeys attempted to discover answers relating to questions of origin and state of existence and they sought out such answers within the Spiritual Realm. It is within this tradition, of attempting to explore the Spiritual Realm that my work belongs. It is only through such exploration that answers to fundamental questions related to existence will be found. Art is a vehicle of exploration. It has the capability of exploring the Spiritual and possibly providing for us a greater understanding of our existence. If the only thing art teaches us is related to the world in which we are already aware of, it teaches us nothing. The artist must be capable of discovering aspects of Reality which others are not aware of. Consequently, the artist acts as an intermediary between humanity and the Spiritual. ...