cross-connect:

Featured Curator of the Week: DearMirah [dear-mirah]

1. Lawrence Wells, Monkeys and Bottles (2013). Oil on canvas. 

When I contacted Lawrence Wells about the Cross Connect program last week he replied saying it was his birthday. I am grateful he took time out of his special day to talk to me about his perspective on art. 

1. What does art mean to you? Art is about personal expression and discovery. Like writing or playing music, art requires practice to make an improvement. Art is a reflection of my journey and time in this life, in this way it becomes universal.

2. Is imagination a crucial aspect of the creative process? Of course. Its important for artists to cultivate their imagination, and to try to resist the way mass media and entertainment kind of colonize our personal and individual imaginations. The artist has to strive to be original and the only way to do that is to turn off all the outside noise and listen to your inner voice.

3. Has Tumblr helped fuel your artistic career? I think tumblr has great potential to get the images out in front of other people. Even if the image is just on someones iphone wallpaper, it gets out there and people see it. Each link is like a grain of sand and they slowly build up.

4. What are some obstacles that artists face in the creative process? Its important to have discipline and not give up. Its important to build up both the conceptual “content” side and the aesthetic “formal” side together. Sometimes you can feel blocked, its best to change gears and try something new. Art can be about letting go and allowing for “happy accidents”. Don’t be too precious about it, like using the force in Star Wars. Just feel it.

Lawrence also sent me a quote that inspires him by D.H. Lawrence –

"This is what I believe: That I am I. That my soul is a dark forest. That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest. That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back. That I must have the courage to let them come and go. That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women. There is my creed.”

2. Taj Bourgeois, The Aesthetics of Cancer (2014). 

3. Kate Delancel, onwards and upwards (2014). Acrylic on paper. 

Delancel is an artist obsessed with color and form. Her paintings encompass a variety of styles, and demonstrate her love for the unpredictability and spontaneity of painting (x). 

4. Linus Malmqvist, Beautiful Paws biking to poetry and noise. Souls catch on (2014). Mixed Media. 

Linus is an artist with a lot of attitude and a great sense of humor. Reading the captions on his art is almost as good as looking at it. Definitely another artist who makes use of the unpredictability and spontaneity of his medium.