Fourth year paper Hyperlinked
Posted by Jona8than | Labels: art, paper, Work, writing | Posted On Monday, November 26, 2007 at 11:59 a.m.
Jonathan Green was born two weeks late and seeing out of only one eye. A unique start to the world and this essay; it is these little details that figure in to Jonathan’s work as well.[Jonathan prefers to be refer to as Jonathan, sans surname] He was born in Labrador City, but moved to Carbonear when he was very young. When asked how growing up in Carbonear has affected his work, Jonathan is a little hesitant, replying there was not a whole lot there for him. He said he read a lot, that he “…just devoured books really, all kinds. A lot of fiction, some non-fiction. He really got in to science fiction and fantasy, but read everything else as well. The majority of my life has been reading, all through teenage years as well.” When asked about his writing as a child and later as a young adult, Jonathan is even more hesitant, “I did write some narratives, some stories, I just never ever finished them.”
Jonathan’s art consists of drawing, paintings, and printmaking. If asked that to describe his materials in one word, he said the word would be "simple". However, there seem to be an element of sensuality in the materials for him, a certain quality of the materials.
His drawings are a variety of media on paper; usually graphite for the smoothness of the line, and the shine of the graphite or Prismacolour markers, that allow for tonal use. Charcoal is a rarity in his works, used sparingly. The drawings are usually black and grey; there is absence of colour.
His support has so far always been paper, a few in particular, but usually a range of smooth paper; works best with his graphite and marker drawings, and usually white. Though Jonathan has said he sometimes uses BFK cream or grey if “…feeling especially jolly.”
The paintings are on stretched canvas usually, and sometimes wood. Gessoed, sanded, and toned. He paints with oil paint with other media like pencil, oil stick, and spray paint. The palette range is very different than his drawings, the palette seems endless, pastel to neon to earths and darks. There seems to be a distinction between the drawings and painting in terms of colour range, but Jonathan could not offer any idea why.
Jonathan said he would describe his research methods as “…very intuitive and wide arcing, covering a lot of ground.” The library and the internet are his prime sources, for imagery and information. “Whether at the library or trawling the internet, I am just plugged in to it. I don’t see it as researching, it’s just part of my lifestyle really, a habit.” Beyond researching his subject matter, Jonathan says he researches a lot of different artists and different periods of art history, trying to get an understanding of different artists through biography, critical essays, and of course, their work. He has said he finds other artists very inspiring as well, their different approaches to their art making. Contemporary culture plays a role in his art as well, so a milieu of magazines can often be found around. “I am really just addicted to information.” Jonathan said.
Jonathan takes a sip of his Coke and list off numerous artists that have influenced him, but three in particular are Ed Pien, Marcel Dzama and Alberto Giacometti.
Ed Pien had just had an art exhibition at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell Art Gallery when Jonathan was in first year, and Jonathan recalls it quite fondly, along with the symposium on drawing that went with it. It help him realized that drawing can be relevant and can be many things; this was later enforced by other artists and his classes. There was also a mysterious to Pien’s work that inspired Jonathan, this “channeling of the mind’s thoughts and ideas. This drawing from within.” he describes it. His 1 minute drawings were also revealing, Jonathan said he has often had a problem of overanalyzing everything and over thinking to the point that the actual creation is slow to get done. Pien’s one minutes drawings showed Jonathan that you could let the “drawing do the thinking for you.”
Marcel Dzama who was introduced in his first year also enforced these ideas, along with his use of ambiguous narratives and use of space in to Jonathan’s drawings. These ambiguous narratives were interesting to Jonathan, for he saw it as a way to use his own narrative in regards to art making.
Alberto Giacometti influence came a little later to Jonathan than the previous artists, in that Jonathan recall ignoring Giacometti in his first and second year; in the third year both the sculptures and two-dimensional works struck him. The use of line, gesture, shape, texture, the use of figure in his works, spatial concerns, a little bit of existentialism all brought ideas to Jonathan’s work.
Jonathan says that the drawing and painting are very intuitive after the initial research of gathering information and source material. “I’ll pin my references up around my area, but after a while they become too distracting and it would almost seem like the art only starts when I start ignoring them. They become more like starting points to the creation.” He says he starts and finishes a drawing in a sitting while the paintings start off as sketches but always transform away from the original drawing. Jonathan quotes William Kentridge on drawing:
“Drawing for me is about fluidity. There may be a vague sense of what you're going to draw but things occur during the process that may modify, consolidate or shed doubts on what you know. So drawing is a testing of ideas: a slow-motion version of thought. It does not arrive instantly like a photograph. The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning. What ends in clarity does not begin that way.” *
For Jonathan the construction of his art is through taking source ideas and thoughts, distilling it through his head, and then working at it. It is an intimacy and immediateness that seems to fuel his art making.
The attraction of a subject matter is hard to trace in Jonathan, for it would seem he really does not want to tell you. He will list off a whole barrage of ideas why to use them, but none of them seem true. Ask for the truth, and he might go off on how the truth has many perspectives, and so forth.
The Skull drawings are usually large, least a full sheet of paper, sometimes multiple sheets connected, or a large sheet; the expanse of space is enjoyed. Jonathan works in an additive/ subtractive method, of using the eraser as a drawing tool as much as the pencil.
His series of skull drawings are exploring an iconography that has been a part of human history, and has especially been included in art history. Skulls are a loaded icon; they are full of different meanings and appropriated for many types of meaning. Jonathan says he has been interested in skulls for many years and has researched the use of them in culture.
It would seem skulls have always popped up from time to time in Jonathan’s life and art practice. One can recall Jonathan’s “goth” subculture period from junior high to just pre-Grenfell as one long instance. Upon questioning about this period or why he was attracted to this subculture, Jonathan lists “rebellion” as a possible answer and says “There has always been an interest in this object for me; and of course, with everyone, was a symbol of death. This meaning has changed over the years as my knowledge of different cultures, meaning, and appropriation has expanded. It still contains the reference of death to me, but through my drawing of the skulls it is done to show that the skull in various states of distortion.” Jonathan accomplishes this by an addition and subtraction method to create an ephermal-ness to the skull, to reflect the varying states of meaning to the skull. Jonathan stands between the archetype of the image and the floating “skull” sign of the postmodern time.
The Rocket works, drawings and paintings that are composed of multiple drawings on paper done in graphite and marker, and oil paintings. The drawings and paintings differ in palette, and technique, are the same in subject: explosions, clouds, rockets, barren landscapes, etc.
His “Rocket” drawings and paintings are a semiotic medley of different signs and meanings. They are images that are based in landscape, that make use of dystopian and apocalyptic elements, modernist symbols of progress, pop culture, television, comic books and graphic novels, the figure relation in space. Jonathan brings up the artist Peter Doig and how he spoke about his paintings as "I don't think of my paintings as being at all realistic. I think of them as being derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of you.” They are fictional but with a stake in reality it would seem; there is nothing in the paintings that does not exist in this world.
It is from the above that the topic of comics and graphic novels follow in to his work, they were part of his reading experience growing up and he still reads them. He notes that some of his works are definitely referrals back to the genre of comics, their use of scale, light and shadow, the use of realism and the fantastical.
The internet while a tool of research also seems to factor in to Jonathan’s work as well. “The media saturation is one thing that influences me, this bombardment of images every day. The signs that float about, that have no meaning until one attaches one.” Jonathan said.
The figure seem to always be in Jonathan’s work, which Jonathan replies that sometimes he “uses the figure just for scale, but other times the figure is the protagonist or antagonist, not quite sure which yet.” Is the figure necessary? Jonathan replied “yes, I need a figure there. I fear a drawing or painting without them.”
There is also that curious narrative in the works, that at times feels figure driven but there is no beginning, no start, and neither ending. There are just moments in the drawings and paintings. When asked about where the drawings and paintings are going, Jonathan shrugs his shoulders and says “I really don’t know. I’m still very much exploring in those drawings and painting. I suppose an ending will come, I don’t know. I just feel a need to keep at them.”
To the question how did these drawings and paintings come about, Jonathan pauses for a while and thinks. “I had been drawing different things all summer while at St. Michael’s Printshop, and a Navy vessel came in, and had some missiles on the side. From missiles I went to rockets, and they just seemed like the perfect metaphor for the idea I had in my head. Rockets, as objects have many different uses. They are a perfect representation for what I was going for.” Jonathan aimed to create a dystopian world in which a figure explores in an almost existentialistic sense, with the weight of technology.
Jonathan’s art consists of drawing, paintings, and printmaking. If asked that to describe his materials in one word, he said the word would be "simple". However, there seem to be an element of sensuality in the materials for him, a certain quality of the materials.
His drawings are a variety of media on paper; usually graphite for the smoothness of the line, and the shine of the graphite or Prismacolour markers, that allow for tonal use. Charcoal is a rarity in his works, used sparingly. The drawings are usually black and grey; there is absence of colour.
His support has so far always been paper, a few in particular, but usually a range of smooth paper; works best with his graphite and marker drawings, and usually white. Though Jonathan has said he sometimes uses BFK cream or grey if “…feeling especially jolly.”
The paintings are on stretched canvas usually, and sometimes wood. Gessoed, sanded, and toned. He paints with oil paint with other media like pencil, oil stick, and spray paint. The palette range is very different than his drawings, the palette seems endless, pastel to neon to earths and darks. There seems to be a distinction between the drawings and painting in terms of colour range, but Jonathan could not offer any idea why.
Jonathan said he would describe his research methods as “…very intuitive and wide arcing, covering a lot of ground.” The library and the internet are his prime sources, for imagery and information. “Whether at the library or trawling the internet, I am just plugged in to it. I don’t see it as researching, it’s just part of my lifestyle really, a habit.” Beyond researching his subject matter, Jonathan says he researches a lot of different artists and different periods of art history, trying to get an understanding of different artists through biography, critical essays, and of course, their work. He has said he finds other artists very inspiring as well, their different approaches to their art making. Contemporary culture plays a role in his art as well, so a milieu of magazines can often be found around. “I am really just addicted to information.” Jonathan said.
Jonathan takes a sip of his Coke and list off numerous artists that have influenced him, but three in particular are Ed Pien, Marcel Dzama and Alberto Giacometti.
Ed Pien had just had an art exhibition at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell Art Gallery when Jonathan was in first year, and Jonathan recalls it quite fondly, along with the symposium on drawing that went with it. It help him realized that drawing can be relevant and can be many things; this was later enforced by other artists and his classes. There was also a mysterious to Pien’s work that inspired Jonathan, this “channeling of the mind’s thoughts and ideas. This drawing from within.” he describes it. His 1 minute drawings were also revealing, Jonathan said he has often had a problem of overanalyzing everything and over thinking to the point that the actual creation is slow to get done. Pien’s one minutes drawings showed Jonathan that you could let the “drawing do the thinking for you.”
Marcel Dzama who was introduced in his first year also enforced these ideas, along with his use of ambiguous narratives and use of space in to Jonathan’s drawings. These ambiguous narratives were interesting to Jonathan, for he saw it as a way to use his own narrative in regards to art making.
Alberto Giacometti influence came a little later to Jonathan than the previous artists, in that Jonathan recall ignoring Giacometti in his first and second year; in the third year both the sculptures and two-dimensional works struck him. The use of line, gesture, shape, texture, the use of figure in his works, spatial concerns, a little bit of existentialism all brought ideas to Jonathan’s work.
Jonathan says that the drawing and painting are very intuitive after the initial research of gathering information and source material. “I’ll pin my references up around my area, but after a while they become too distracting and it would almost seem like the art only starts when I start ignoring them. They become more like starting points to the creation.” He says he starts and finishes a drawing in a sitting while the paintings start off as sketches but always transform away from the original drawing. Jonathan quotes William Kentridge on drawing:
“Drawing for me is about fluidity. There may be a vague sense of what you're going to draw but things occur during the process that may modify, consolidate or shed doubts on what you know. So drawing is a testing of ideas: a slow-motion version of thought. It does not arrive instantly like a photograph. The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning. What ends in clarity does not begin that way.” *
For Jonathan the construction of his art is through taking source ideas and thoughts, distilling it through his head, and then working at it. It is an intimacy and immediateness that seems to fuel his art making.
The attraction of a subject matter is hard to trace in Jonathan, for it would seem he really does not want to tell you. He will list off a whole barrage of ideas why to use them, but none of them seem true. Ask for the truth, and he might go off on how the truth has many perspectives, and so forth.
The Skull drawings are usually large, least a full sheet of paper, sometimes multiple sheets connected, or a large sheet; the expanse of space is enjoyed. Jonathan works in an additive/ subtractive method, of using the eraser as a drawing tool as much as the pencil.
His series of skull drawings are exploring an iconography that has been a part of human history, and has especially been included in art history. Skulls are a loaded icon; they are full of different meanings and appropriated for many types of meaning. Jonathan says he has been interested in skulls for many years and has researched the use of them in culture.
It would seem skulls have always popped up from time to time in Jonathan’s life and art practice. One can recall Jonathan’s “goth” subculture period from junior high to just pre-Grenfell as one long instance. Upon questioning about this period or why he was attracted to this subculture, Jonathan lists “rebellion” as a possible answer and says “There has always been an interest in this object for me; and of course, with everyone, was a symbol of death. This meaning has changed over the years as my knowledge of different cultures, meaning, and appropriation has expanded. It still contains the reference of death to me, but through my drawing of the skulls it is done to show that the skull in various states of distortion.” Jonathan accomplishes this by an addition and subtraction method to create an ephermal-ness to the skull, to reflect the varying states of meaning to the skull. Jonathan stands between the archetype of the image and the floating “skull” sign of the postmodern time.
The Rocket works, drawings and paintings that are composed of multiple drawings on paper done in graphite and marker, and oil paintings. The drawings and paintings differ in palette, and technique, are the same in subject: explosions, clouds, rockets, barren landscapes, etc.
His “Rocket” drawings and paintings are a semiotic medley of different signs and meanings. They are images that are based in landscape, that make use of dystopian and apocalyptic elements, modernist symbols of progress, pop culture, television, comic books and graphic novels, the figure relation in space. Jonathan brings up the artist Peter Doig and how he spoke about his paintings as "I don't think of my paintings as being at all realistic. I think of them as being derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of you.” They are fictional but with a stake in reality it would seem; there is nothing in the paintings that does not exist in this world.
It is from the above that the topic of comics and graphic novels follow in to his work, they were part of his reading experience growing up and he still reads them. He notes that some of his works are definitely referrals back to the genre of comics, their use of scale, light and shadow, the use of realism and the fantastical.
The internet while a tool of research also seems to factor in to Jonathan’s work as well. “The media saturation is one thing that influences me, this bombardment of images every day. The signs that float about, that have no meaning until one attaches one.” Jonathan said.
The figure seem to always be in Jonathan’s work, which Jonathan replies that sometimes he “uses the figure just for scale, but other times the figure is the protagonist or antagonist, not quite sure which yet.” Is the figure necessary? Jonathan replied “yes, I need a figure there. I fear a drawing or painting without them.”
There is also that curious narrative in the works, that at times feels figure driven but there is no beginning, no start, and neither ending. There are just moments in the drawings and paintings. When asked about where the drawings and paintings are going, Jonathan shrugs his shoulders and says “I really don’t know. I’m still very much exploring in those drawings and painting. I suppose an ending will come, I don’t know. I just feel a need to keep at them.”
To the question how did these drawings and paintings come about, Jonathan pauses for a while and thinks. “I had been drawing different things all summer while at St. Michael’s Printshop, and a Navy vessel came in, and had some missiles on the side. From missiles I went to rockets, and they just seemed like the perfect metaphor for the idea I had in my head. Rockets, as objects have many different uses. They are a perfect representation for what I was going for.” Jonathan aimed to create a dystopian world in which a figure explores in an almost existentialistic sense, with the weight of technology.
