Musings of a Sensitive Artist

Sunday, June 25

Artist Statement: Jennie R Poston

My work is about a search for tangible beauty through a direct, physical process. I enjoy the innate beauty found in natural materials, which I strive to isolate and refine. I connect to a subtractive view of life, where the distractions and superficiality of today‚s society are removed. Once all excessive details are striped away pure, undiluted form remains. Mass relationships, gesture, and line merge, expressing and defining the subject more eloquently than any written or spoken language.

A large part of my art is influenced by my passion for art history. It
provides a foundation and point of departure. Delving into thought
already established and incorporating the art historical into my work
enables me to synthesize my creation and view of art. Artists today are
dealing with many of the same concepts and questions as those of the past. There is a similar search for balance between embracing and challenging the accepted; a desire to acknowledge and contribute to what has been established. In this search an artist finds a unique voice; it is this response that distinguishes them.

The subtractive process is a reflection of my personality and perception of life. I attempt to push past peoples‚ personal facades and observe their deeper individuality. It is this removal of the excessive or false to reveal an essence of truth and purity that is conveyed by the subtractive method; it is an effort to expose the honesty of a subject. The importance of process also speaks to my interaction with both the world and subject. The analytical and physical aspects of the subtractive approach mimic my tendency to step back and observe my surroundings before actively investigating them. There is a tension between this method becoming a formal shorthand or a purification of form.

I am drawn to the boldness and humanity of both subject and artist in
German Expressionism. The movement, emotion, and honesty of expressionistic art are traits I hope to incorporate in my own work. German expressionists such as Ernst Barlach, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Max Beckmann, Kathe Kollwitz, and Erich Heckel shared my interest in medium as an integral element and the dynamic between artist and viewer. Their work became more than just an object; it was a response to the world and events around them. They were prolific in their experimentation, intense passion, and desire to break from artistic conventions. I feel that expressionistic art as well as my own three-dimensional work relies heavily on the conversation between the piece and the surrounding space. There is also the link of figurative subject matter, which they used to convey inner experience. Unlike the expressionists, I struggle with translating my emotions into my work. I have been unable to get beyond the creation of art for pure aestheti
c value to a point of deeper substance. I want desperately to stretch
myself beyond my current limits, and discover whom I am as both a person and an artist; to reach a point where I will have an inner confidence and self-awareness that will be reflected in my art.

I see a similar honesty and purity in the Modernist sculpture of Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and Jacques Lipchitz to that of the expressionists. There is a clear search for the essence of a subject through abstraction and simplification evident in their work. I enjoy the dynamics found in the human form such as the juxtaposition and tension of body masses, gestural movement, and balance, as well as the simplification of the complex figurative relationships. So much of my work can be read as figurative, something I feel branches from a human instinct to understand the world through its relation to ourselves.

I feel my work is a synthesis of the classical past and modernism.
Through my art I attempt to create a fusion of classical and modern
aesthetics. I exist within a tension between a classical reserve and
expressionistic content. I enjoy an abstract modern aesthetic and bold, expressive line coupled with a classical approach.

I am attracted to the intense physicality of sculpting, as well as the
meditation found in the purity of the process. For me sculpture is not so much about the end result as it is the artist‚s journey towards a goal. There is something beautiful about the silent reflection and
self-exploration of a sculptor intent on a project. I am drawn to the
complex union of the mental and physical that is innate to working
three-dimensionally; the translation of a conceptual thought into a
tangible piece. Sculpture allows for an intimate response from the
viewer, where their reaction to the work becomes an integral aspect of art making.

Posted by SensitiveArtist :: 7:07 PM :: 0 comments