Jennifer Gillia Cutshall
- Apr 4, 2020
- 3 min read

INSIDE the ABSTRACT, post #4: Of Spheres & Building Blocks of abstraction (4 artists today)

INSIDE the ABSTRACT:

A Journal of Snapshots & Stories that delve into Process with pics, videos, and more...Qian Jin, Hannah K. Freeman, Rob McKirdie, and Mario Laplante.

Qian Jin on seeing through the tiniest sphere...

Seascape-"Yan" Truth and fiction of images always seem to be a topic for photography. I don't want to get into this dilemma to explore the relationship between reality and fiction of images. But I'm interested in the illusory effect of images. An abstract, blurred, but real image seems to be more expressive of the wind of an image. The scene is more like the artistic conception of traditional Chinese painting, but it is not a painting, but the most "real" photography. The Seascape - "Yan" practice continues this direction. When I was young, the Russian writer Gorky's works “Petrel” is my understanding of the sea all, “Petrel” and even affect our generation. Its metaphorical, symbolic and political meanings have faded today, but the vast sea, the wind, the dark clouds and the petrels like black lightning are still my memories of the sea. The "Yan" series are shoot in the sky, through cabin window, the difference between ever-changing sky and ocean are blur. It is difficult to be distinguished,but I am enchanted by the ambiguous of these attributes. All of these seemingly real seascapes, such as beaches, seaweed, storms and storms, and birds in the air, are actually changes in sunlight and clouds. And it is this illusion that creates another kind of metaphor and anxiety. At some point in the future, can we only replace the real seascape with this illusion?

Hannah K. Freeman and gathering spheres...

What attracted you to the 7 th Annual Abstract call? “Abstract!” Abstraction encourages thinking beyond the particular.. a way of thinking that is so needed right now.. and a whole show dedicated to this?! Genius. Does the idea of transformation influence your work and process? The painting selected for inclusion in this show is one of the first paintings I did that was strictly process-based (the initial notation on the back of the photo is proof!). Allowing the process to drive the work is allowing the very act of transformation to drive how the work unfolds. What draws you to the medium you chose? Oil paint – rich, saturated, luscious, transparent, translucent, opaque, malleable – it can do all things! Tell us a little about your process (I don’t believe in giving it all away). My paintings begin from my own experiences encountering tiny organisms like lichens, mosses, and fungi, all of which help maintain and ensure life on earth. This painting in particular came from an adventure in Alaska. I capture various moments with a camera (for future reference). Then, through painting, I draw from my initial internal experience with that organism to convey how they provoke me to think beyond – to the spiritual, interconnectedness of all things. Do you work in other modes of expression? A professor once told me to let the form fit the content – or something like that, though they probably said it much more eloquently. So, yes, I do venture out, but I always come back to oil. Oil is good for my soul. Who inspires you? Good people and good painters. Musicians. My family and friends, of course. My niece and nephews.My Grandma. What do you do to get inspired? Go to the forest, go to the lake, soak in the sunshine… and listen with a quiet mind. What do you hope your work achieves? Deep thought. Questioning. Hope. Connection to your own spirit and soul, or your higher power.

Rob McKirdie and the building blocks of abstraction

The things that shake loose are often pieces of material culture that separate themselves from a larger context and settle within the mundane corners found along transient paths. I am one of those transient travelers that would be found searching in the mundane corners for the sedimentation of material culture, this is where I find my source material and inspiration as a sculptor. As I transfer those things that shake loose from one mundane corner to my own I develop a dialogue with those items, as if I were an archaeologist trying to reconstruct the identity of a particular culture through the collected materials. My dialogue with the collected materials involves an in depth physical and emotional investigation of the limits and impacts inherent within each object and the possible relationships with other objects or physical elements. The findings are then tested against notions of narratives that explore illuminating codes of the nexus, genesis, or revelation of those materials.