Jona8than Green Art and Other Things

How does one start after three months absence? Catching up is a chore. You see a person after months and months, ask them what they've been up to, and the reply is “Oh, nothing.”

Maybe that is true, in a sense, I've been up to nothing and everything. The past three moths here in Banff have been a almost never ending tumult of stimulus. New place, new people, new job, new apartment, moving to a better apartment, learning new things. I think the biggest is the new people. I've met so many new people here. In the visual arts program, where I work as a workstudy, we have thematic residencies. Thematic residencies are six weeks in length, based around a thematic premise with a faculty and guest lecturers. The format always changes from theme to theme. Usually involving about 15 – 20 artists. Then there are self directed artists, who commit to different lengths of time and work on their own projects. Then there are the fellow workers, fellow work studies, people in other programs, etc.

So there have been a lot of meetings and good byes. Many great people and interesting art projects; an abundance of seeing how artists create and work. From all types of media and levels, from young emerging artists to mid, established to art stars. It's been a lot to take in at time.

I want to go on about the good byes, just because of today; an end of a residency and a day of saying good byes to people. I can see myself constructing walls in this one, unlike the first one. Not sure if that is the right way to go about it or if just an inherent mechanism that occurs from this place. Hard to say.

The job is good, I receive a stipend as the program is an arts training program, so there is a tuition and so forth, that is paid by donators, funding from different organizations, etc. I work four days a week, and have one paid day that is my studio or study day, where I have to work on my art and other projects. A good gig really. I started out in the printmaking department and am now stationed in ceramics and sculpture. Their goal for me is to expand my knowledge, so learning ceramics and sculpture.

My own art has been slow coming here. I haven't completed anything as of yet. A lot of thinking and digesting everything that is around me; almost chokes you up there is that much. I do have new directions, new ideas for my art. They need refinement however, I need to figure where I want to go with things. I've had some studio visits lately with some artists such as Duncan MacKenzie and Christian Kuras, and Ron Terada. Both visits were quite illuminating, contradictory over some things, but both valid.

Scale in particular has came up. The relation of the viewer to the work, and the possible inadequacy of print to address this. Not saying big prints aren't possible, but the labour goes up quite a bit. Just things to address and figure out.

Then there is contextual issues and other things that I'll save for another post. A problem with the imagery and the symbolism that is used to construct meaning in my work could be considered too easy to use. A new way of addressing these ideas has to be constructed, perhaps through jettisoning some of that imagery. Unsure just yet. Newfoundland does come back in to my work, perhaps in more consideration than before.

Besides that trying to keep my ambition up; Banff has a habit of making everybody a little soft around the edges, physically as well as mentally. I could go to the gym or climbing mountains for the latter. Maybe these are just the thoughts of a young man on a downcast day of saying good byes. I'm going to try and write more regularly here from now on.