d. W. Whitfield
Art is a visual attempt to come to terms with the world, to make sense of it, an aesthetic philosophy.An exploration and a journey of materials, aesthetic principles and the subject matter of the work itself.
To give a title or burden it with a meaning shrivels the work , to devoid not only it, but that of the viewer, any chance of a more meaningful interpretation beyond that of a mere title or single blinkered once and forever ‘meaning’
The main preoccupation of inspiration is the hidden psych of a human being and the behavioural interactions between individuals and groups. What really goes on behind a smiling face, and why do people behave as they do ?
Early pursuits took on the style of Surrealism, an attempt to go beyond the boundaries of accepted realism and attempt a more truer interpretation of this purely visual reality, the world of the unconscious and that exhibited in dreams is perhaps hidden, but ‘ real ‘ for all that. They are all parts of the same reality. Eventually, however, this style seemed to stifle my creativity becoming a technical challenge rather than an intellectual and emotional one, I felt hampered by the technical constraints imbibed in the style.
Choosing the medium of water colour freed me from all such restrictions, as it allows and demands limitless freedom of expression because of the very nature of this medium, colour and water. Water which is flowing and fluid can spread across paper without any encouragement and usually of its own accord. It has a life of its own, and the artist sometimes has a job to keep up. It is in this state that expression and creativity can really take wing, boundaries cease to exist, only instinct is the guiding force.
Acrylic is now the preferred medium which has both advantages and disadvantages, as any other.