#interpreting art

Raw materials—influences and ingredients

       Doodling from my sketchbook Finding ideas and processes to explore a new idea—that’s what I’m thinking about these days. It’s about mapping intimate geography: reappearing patterns, personal space, favorite symbols, and the passage of time. A lot of stuff. I want a sense of rawness and spontaneity…and obscured meaning in the work I create. So far I’ve been working with paintings on canvas,…

Mapping the strata XVIII

I thought I needed a way to reinvigorate my Mapping the strata series. I don’t know how other artists regard their work, whether they are content to explore a particular genre or theme throughout their career, but I felt like I was becoming a little predictable after Mapping the strata XVIII. I needed a new way of considering my intent and interest…and a new way of…

In the company of others

I’ve been cruising the internet looking for other artists using geological formations as a source of inspiration. I think we have a common interest (maybe), but the differences are great in the interpretation. It’s fascinating.

Per Kirkeby, “Vermisst die Welt” 

Here’s my most recent discovery—Per Kirkeby. In his obituary in Artforum, he is described as “heavily influenced by his training as a…

Fault lines and Superman

I like this map of the geology of the Bernalillo and Placitas quadrangles (New Mexico)—truly a work of art. I captured it on my computer right before the final grid lines and descriptors were in place. It reminded me of a series I did a few years ago—the Fault Line series. At the time I was thinking about fault lines as margins for change—appearing as gaps, folds, or points of friction and…

View the art. Glance at it, then ask yourself the questions below. Then, take a longer look and ask yourself the same questions.

Do you like it?

What do you like about it?

How does it make you feel?

What does it mean?

You are not wrong; all your answers are valid, important, and enhance the piece.

Each piece of artwork gains depth and meaning with each glance, each viewer, each interpretation. Just like “No man ever steps in the same river twice,” no artwork is the same for each person, each time.

There is no “wrong” in the interpretation or evaluation of… well, anything that is emotion / opinion based. Does 2+2=4? Yes, because math is rarely opinion-based (a little joke there, for the math geeks). But art, food, etc., are. You love mushrooms? Great! I hate mushrooms. Neither of us is wrong. Are you deathly allergic to mushrooms? That’s not an opinion, it’s fact, and you shouldn’t eat mushrooms, regardless of your opinion of them.

What about the artist’s interpretation, their intended meaning? Sure, when an artist says that the canvas which they smeared with black and yellow paint is meant to represent the chaotic nature of hailing a cab, their interpretation is valid, important, and enhances the piece. But, it is not the only interpretation.

If I just had a heck of a time hailing a cab, the artist’s interpretation might resonate with me. But, what if I was recently sitting in a garden, watching bees happily buzz about? If I see happily buzzing bees in the black and yellow swaths of paint, does that make me wrong?

No. Because interpretation is never wrong, never invalid.

Want to practice this foolproof method? Great! Choose from the pieces below or from my portfolio or shop pages, then tell me what you think in the comments section below.

Thank you for reading!

The glimpse…as a teaser

Seeing a slice or a hint of something is often more intriguing than getting a full-blown view of it. I think that’s why I’m more drawn to abstract art than I am to representational work.  It’s open ended.

Even around 1430, Cennini was suggesting that the mystery in the unseen , the glimpse, was appealing:

“Mystery is the art of eliciting unseen things hidden in the shadow of natural ones… and…