We were discussing one of my favourite authors, Michael Ondaatje. I am introducing this friend to Ondaatje, with the book In the Skin of a Lion. (He had read only a part of it when we had this conversation). I was marveling at Ondaatje's incredible ability to paint scenes with words. And my friend described it as instead of having the character introduce themselves... Ondaatje literally depicts their environment and their response to that environment. And through that, you get the story and character development. My friend added that he writes with tableaux... He somehow connects each tableau in order to form an intensely original piece of writing. My favourite bit of written word, is actually a chapter in the book In the Skin of a Lion. It's the story within the story, of the nun who fell off the bridge. I'll leave it at that, as you may want to read it for yourself... I recommend that you do.
My objective as an artist, is to move away from simply reflecting what I see - but move into the realm of storytelling... I want to use something other than the act of applying paint to give my work weight. I want my work to tell a story.
On Matisse:
When I was in France 2 years ago. I had the opportunity to go to the Matisse Museum in Nice. While I liked some of Matisse's 2-dimensional works, I was not at all acquainted with his bronze sculptures. That is when truly I fell in love with his works, it is the raw power of his imagery that attracts my every senses. Matisse put it this way: "I sculpted as a painter, I did not sculpt like a sculptor." This is yet another example of using approaches from another medium to strengthen your storytelling power with visual art.
bronze, lost-wax cast
1922-29
1922-29
1901
[...] I know perfectly well what a human body looks like - for me, a model is a springboard, a door I have to break down so as to get into the garden in which I am so alone and so happy.
