To me, art is like a mystery which is to be solved. I see an artwork as the concentration of an idea or concept into a physical entity. The idea or concept is rarely evident through just looking at piece; it requires analysis or scrutiny to interpret it. This is why I am rarely happy with a piece of art unless I can see some meaning behind it. Whether it is my own or another person’s, I feel a great satisfaction when I discover an underlying theme or message; deliberate or not. It is like poring over a cryptic riddle or a puzzle for time until all at once it falls into place.
Perhaps it is my obsession with problem-inducing things: cryptic crosswords, chess, Rubik’s cubes, poker, cribbage and scrabble that have induced this vision of art. It is the same either way. If I am looking at a Mark Rothko painting, Rothko has set the puzzle to be deciphered and I am attempting to solve it, even if the answer is as simple as, ‘a perfect combination of colour’. If I create an artwork, it will have hidden parameters evident only by scrutiny. It may be easy to interpret or it may be difficult, it doesn’t matter. I don’t mind if people don’t interpret it the way I intended; only that it makes sense in their own minds and that it gives them that same sense of satisfaction that I get when I solve a puzzle. You could say that that is the ultimate motivation for the art that I produce.
This theme has also played a strong role in the work that I have been doing over the past year in my Art Foundation course. In the last ’self’-orientated project I focussed on my fascination with playing cards and chess combined with the physical aspects of my life. This has developed into my current project that concentrates on aspects of chance (chess, playing cards) combined, symbolically, with aspects of purpose (religion, gods, fate, strategy) through many different mediums, including customised board games and sculptures. I am intrigued with hidden meanings, so I am looking at artists such as Joseph Beuys and Leonardo Da Vinci who are known to use a lot of symbolism in their work.
My current work has developed from many of the foundation course projects I have done since the beginning of the year. I feel that this year has been a significant indication of what path I want to follow in the future. I initially enrolled with the mindset of trying it out and deciding what to do later on in the year. I have worked hard at keeping up with work and have enjoyed being able to develop my own ideas creatively ove
