Scrappy Art

How nice it is to know that our local streets are filled with materials for all kinds of projects. I’ve recently discovered some wood from residential construction sites that serves as a welcome diversion from the usual canvas on stretchers that I work on. Wood is a traditional painting surface originating from ancient times that has an attractive smoothness and durability. Outsider artists like to use scraps for a rough-hewn look, which I find agreeably primal in expression. I’ve found it fun to use a chisel to cut in some texture that paint can later accentuate. Yesterday, I made a few small pieces that sum up my state of mind these days – light, hopeful and whimsical.

Aloise Corbaz

As I was perusing the New York Times recently, I came across a picture of a painting by the Swiss outsider artist Aloise Corbaz. I was struck by her lush and sensual colors and shapes as well as her somewhat child-like handling of the materials. Apparently, she was hired as a governess of Kaiser Wilhelm II and developed a huge and obsessive crush on him, which fueled her creative fire. Though it pains me to know that she was eventually sent to a mental institution for schizophrenia, her work is striking for its compulsive quality. The passionate and intense feelings that were running through her are so palapable. There must be something about madness that pushes the artist to go beyond the usual modes of artmaking. I’m hoping that it isn’t the only way to substantial art though.