Humanity has never enjoyed uncertainties, and although we say we like mystery, we don’t, really. We do not deal easily with ambiguity. Things are either black or white (though we can manage grey – as a colour), up or down, dark or light. However, with the advent of quantum physics and its paradoxes (cats that are both dead and alive, light that is both wave and particle), our set-in-stone certainties should be fading somewhat. The male or female certainties have been well and truly confused with the LBGTXYZ movement). The patriarchy is on its last legs, not before time.
It’s clear though that the old guard won’t die without a struggle. Their world has lasted several centuries, if not millennia, hasn’t it, so why should they change – their brains aren’t wired for ambiguity. What, in fact, is the difference between the two? Checking on the internet (as we do these days) really doesn’t help, so I’ll see if I can explain both, at least to myself. Ambiguity is lack of clarity – it’s not black or white!. I think (I hope) that my artwork is often ambiguous – difficult to be certain what it’s about. Paradox is apparent contradiction, but isn’t really. So, paradoxically, we believe that death is the end of everything but it may be a step to a far better reality. I don’t know if that’s a particularly useful paradox but it works for me. This might be a better one: years ago I produced an artwork that was paradoxical – ‘This Side Up’ – a nice, compact comment on the perennial gender battle. (See above, on the left…)
As an example of ambiguity, let’s try this one, my painting called The Inheritors. It’s ambiguous because I don’t know who these people are, what their relationship is to each other, but most of all because I could never decide whether the hand of the hooded figure in the centre, resting on the head of a small person (child?) at the bottom, was protective or injurious. What was this small person doing? It looks to me as if she (or he) wanted to take her mask off; so was the hooded figure’s hand helping or preventing her doing so? And who are all the other figures? Well, if I don’t know, who does?
Sculpture
Recently I've been making a clay sculpture for a friend. I use special self-hardening clay sourced from the US – it's a clay and epoxy mix, which dries hard in 24 hours, and you can then drill it, carve it, and paint it. The friend wanted a Madonna for the little...
Spring Manifestation
After a long winter, we are finally seeing the true signs of spring in Tuscany - daffodils in the garden, and hints of the first delicate green leaves on the trees. It's not that the winter was very cold, but it was very, very wet - I think it rained most days...
Media
I saw an email today where my correspondent said they'd love to know about art, materials and anything else that I might be offering. That's lovely to hear, and gives me an idea about my ‘thought for today’. I use oils most of the time now, although I know people tend...
January 1st 2021
1st January is a good time to think, especially after the year we’ve just left behind. So many people have been saying we need to get away from the ‘old’ normal, not go back to it (usually people with more than one brain cell to run together). But even if so many of...
Reading for the World
I wanted to look at the year ahead. Using the Devas of Creation, I asked, 1) Will the world situation improve in 2021? Answer – Immanence (the card I call Gabriel). It's a lovely card, although the angelic being seems a little stuck on earth, even though it wants to...