A Symbolic Fox

New painting elements and fondness for a ruthless hunter

I wrote this short little piece before the US election and, for whatever reason (possibly a brain already full of anxiety) didn't post it. I struggled then and struggle even more now with swinging back and forth between feeling like talking about creativity right now is selfish and thinking and knowing that this is not the case. Others have said such wise and true things about politics and the state of the world that it isn't a requirement of being a decent person to say something more. We know that we must carry on and try to keep hoping and speaking up, we all know that our frustration and sadness is reasonable.

My personal engagement with stories and symbols has always been partly about looking at the darker sides of all creatures and being fascinated by the changing morality of tales and cultures. So here, finally is my post and some artworks that now include a little fox, who I am very fond of, despite the fact that he is a ruthless hunter and somewhere in that is my small salve for a saddened heart.

It might be specific to my art school experience but I felt a definite favoritism toward art that was obscure, abstract and that, if you understood it, showed you were terribly smart and sophisticated.

 I do feel this same love of the obscure, of things that use references and symbols known only to a few, is actually growing in general media and culture. The proliferation of different channels to get our entertainment is, no doubt, part of this but, the celebration of nicheness seems to be growing. It is interesting for sure but I find myself feeling pushed in the other direction.

This creation of private or small group symbolism poses an interesting contrast to me with the idea of shared stories and symbols that are understood by all. I have read essays about how, in the past, shared symbols would have been crucial to illiterate populations and, perhaps among the upper classes there was, even then, a disdain for the folk culture and the stories that seem to me to have created cultures.Then again, maybe you didn't need to differentiate yourself so extremely by culture when physical markers of status were so immutable.

Which all comes down to me pondering my recent desire to make symbolism in my painting more explicit. It has always been there but I took the view that it was more experientially appropriate if the symbolism was hidden deep in the layers making the painting genuinely, although not obviously, a piece of archeology.

A selection of animal symbols starting to inhabit paintings

But somehow I want to brush off the archeological dust for all to see now. I feel like offering things that can be understood and enjoyed by the most people possible is actually as wonderful as making little mysteries and playing with the deliberately obscure.

Perhaps, the current state of the world makes me long for straightforwardness and plain speaking. Perhaps the desperate need for understanding and kindness makes the need for stories that bring clear messages seem more pressing. 

Whatever it is, I feel my painting moving distinctly toward more illustrative and colorful tendencies and I'm enjoying confronting those old art school ideas and throwing at least a few of them out the window.