Most artist statements today are filled with thoughts on motivation and meaning. I think we’ve somehow become uncomfortable with the idea of just making art for the sake of creating. There must be some kind of deep intellectual thought behind those marks! And perhaps there always is on one level. For an artist like Rose Masterpol, the reason they create is for the pure pleasure of the process.
The advent of photography freed painters from the need to represent. We can, instead, fully revel in the action and process of the painting itself. Full immersion into pure expression, building layer upon layer of mark and color until what we see is fully pleasing to the artist’s eye. The viewer then, is left to find what it is that those marks mean to them, engaging the outsider with the intimate creation.
To see more of Rose Masterpol’s work, please visit her website.
All images are via the artist’s website.
Carolyn Mackin Watson
September 24, 2014 at 10:26 AMI could not agree more with your sentiments Artsy! Earning my MFA made me feel as though I needed to embed lots of theory and intellectualized meaning into my work. Now that I paint from intuition, I actually enjoy the creative process again, and feel alive and connected to a higher source. What a profound difference this has made in my life!
Artsy Forager
September 24, 2014 at 1:44 PMI do think that we over intellectualize art today– there is room for meaning and symbolism but there is also a place for pure creation.
Carolyn Mackin Watson
September 24, 2014 at 2:03 PMYes, well said.