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Walking through a flea market one day, I realized how provocatively certain objects roiled my psyche. They were no longer objects, but potent messengers from the primordial pool of my long forgotten past that magically jarred memories back to my conscious awareness. This was powerful stuff, the evocative power of objects... It has since become the foundation of my paintings, where objects are metaphors negotiating space for specific purposes in the vein of de Chirico and Magritte. I try to explore and depict truths aout the human condition, whether in the physical, intellectual or emotional realms. I'm
especially interested in the objective reality of inner experience. In this
sense my paintings are "projective," in that they try to get at
what is sourced from inside ourselves. I start by accessing the inner world
of my own values and experience, offering the viewer an interpretation of
universal realities in a language that he may interpret according to his own
frame of reference. So, while I paint in the language of my own dreams,
pushing them through an emotional mix-master of contemporary interpretation,
I also draw on Greek mythology, psychology and symbols from Western and
Eastern mythology. These offer a deep well of perennial themes. My
hope is that the viewers and my perceptions will meet in the mirror of mutual
recognition, on a common note of expanded understanding by playing on the
enigmatic edge of the surreal that results from incongruously juxtaposing
objects, I hope to press the viewer into thinking about the meaning of their
interrelationships, and the viewer will have an experience. A FEW OF MY FAVORITE SYMBOLS: The
articulated wooden mannequins represent Everyman and Everywoman. I call them
The Rosewoods. I like them because they portray a current social problem:
suffering that comes for a loss of identity, humanity and ordinary civility.
They search for their souls, seek to understand their relationship to and
their roles in society. They strive to reconnect with the powers of
understanding and goodness. The Globe and the Fish. The globe is used in it's traditional meaning of power and wealth. Often it crops up as ecological icon symbolizing Earth as the mother of all physical life, the great provider, a symbol of a world dominated and ruinously exploited by man. The Fish are the symbol of the natures bounty. The fish is also used to symbolize the spirit of goodness, but never as a religious icon. |
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© Coulter Watt 2005.
All Rights Reserved. |
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