Diebenkorn, Westmark, Evans

I really liked this past statement I came across by John Westmark.

(John is featured on ArtistADay today)

"Since 1999, my work has been predominately influenced by Diebenkorn, and to a lesser extent, Matisse. I agree with their approach of moving beyond the initial architecture of a painting by concealing and correcting previous marks, with the goal of maintaining a stance of unself-consciousness and rightness. I believe that the relationship between the unconscious, spontaneous reaction and the premeditated, intentional mark is the key to a successful painting. Developing the intuition to know when, and when not to rework, is paramount. Ultimately it is this dichotomy that creates the painting - a collection of brush strokes and marks that reflects the energy and spirit of the artist at the time of its creation.

My subject matter is derived from collected experiences and memories. Each painting becomes a struggle to create a unique visual language - an abstraction of color and form - and not to adhere to a literal translation of a scene or object. This lack of dependency on the literal translation is usually a liberating aspect of the work."

This statement coincided with a Diebenkorn kick I have been on lately. I have never been a huge fan of his actual paintings, but I have found that I agree a lot with aspects of what he has to say about painting. Both Diebenkorn and the statement above say it in a bit more philosophical and elegant way than I would have written, but the concepts are there.

The painting attached to the post is actually by a totally different artist John Evans, which I came across on this recent Diebenkorn voyage. He has done a series of paintings that feature what seem to be a pretty extreme overhead view, something I had started to look into, and first attempted with my painting "Farewell". His are much more successful in my opinion, and certainly more "Diebenkorn-esque", but I continue to attempt these ideas in my own way as they come along.