I just finished listening to Jerry Saltz narrate his book “How to be an Artist”. Totally recommend listening to him read the book - its way different than listening to your own voice in your head read the same pages.
One of the chapters is to write about your work. Here I go…
What am I doing?
I love Color Field art. Like as much as I love my kids. Love.
Recently someone I respected said they thought those yellow and red squares were bullshit and were the simplest way to make meaningless art. WOAH. OK. So what is it about Color Field art that makes MY heart zing?
Let’s go back…
My family is from Holland, like off the plane Dutch. My father’s side of the family are all in the flowerbulb business. I grew up in the bulb part of the business here in the states. Bulbs are the brown and gold onion looking things that 6 months later show their color. There were a few times I got to go over in the spring.At that time of year, the bulbs are flowering. Fields that other times of the year are wet sand colored are FILLED with blocks of yellow, red, pink. I would ride in the back of the car through these color fields. Sometimes we would stop, and I could walk up to, then into these fields of a single color.
Something happens when I stand in a field of color bigger than my body. There is a release of a tension in my skin. I can feel something inside fall away, and something that I would describe as my life force expand. It is a crazy feeling. It’s the same as when I stare at Color Field art.
I had issues with Color Field painting too.. Its awfully square. Rigid. Confining in contrast to the field of color within. Dude, way to make an incredible feeling and control it. I resent those perfectly straight controlled perfect lines.
What if I went Oprah on Color Field art?
Oprah is at her most beautiful when she is at her physically biggest. She takes up space. She physically confronts. It is the most magnificent display of feminine beauty.
This is not frail, wispy, pre-pubescent feminine idealized in fashion. Even I could snap their arms. Oprah beauty harnesses the great divine feminine. It reminds me of Michealangelo’s Pieta - her ass is HUGE! The Pieta is a mountain, a force of nature that is as great as the Earth we walk upon.
What if I took what i loved about Color Field art and went Great Divine Feminine on it?
That is what I am doing.