antony clarkson
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      • Antony Clarkson, The Apophenia Series, 2025.
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Apophenia:
​An Uncanny Presence.
2022-

Picture
Whilst exploring painted spaces via my Personal Topographies series I was constantly aware that the next development in this painted process would be the introduction of abstract presences. Although I have been using the word presence to denote the manifestations in my work, I am now wondering if it is perhaps the best word to use. If the presence in question is always, pseudo human should I be considering the idea of anthropomorphism instead? Or perhaps in more global terms pareidolia? Or more properly apophenia? ​

​How to talk about a painting without saying anything at all?

7/21/2025

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Picture

Of Oblique Incarnation.’ Oil on canvas, 37 x 27.5 inches (94 x70cm). 

'Of Oblique Incarnation.’ My latest completed work makes me wonder what I can say about it without saying anything that might 'lead the witness'?  As you may be aware the paintings in this series rely on how the eyes/mind of the observer interpret them with the intention that the observer should consider what a painting really is and does. I craft the titles of these works as carefully as I craft the paintings themselves to say something but not really anything about the paintings. So perhaps the best way to talk about the painting is to break down the title itself.. Therefore, considering the key components:

Oblique: Not explicit or done in a direct way. Indirect, obscure, devious, underhanded. Denoting any case other than the nominative or vocative.

Incarnation: A particular physical form or state. Embodiment, personification, epitome, manifestation. A concrete or actual form of a quality or concept.
​
So, we are talking about a form with no obvious explanation.
Perhaps this is the only way that I can approach this problem? By taking the title apart in this way I can, hopefully, at least assist the observer in their consideration of the painting in question. Although I suspect that the final sentence will always be: ‘so, we are talking about a form with no obvious explanation.’ 
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  • CODEX
    • plane >
      • Apophenia: An Uncanny Presence.
      • Control(s)
      • Personal Topographies
      • The Self-Isolation Residency
      • Carved From This Land
      • Photography
      • Spatial Paintings 2006-2008
      • Paintings 2006
    • mass >
      • Second Skin/Second Life
      • Crow
      • The Blind Men and the Elephant.
      • Spatial Conceptions 2014 - 2022
      • Painted Objects
      • Autograph
      • The Newtonian Nightmare
    • volume >
      • Enso nest
      • Someone else's storey
      • Shower, The Process Residency 2013,
      • Concrete Haiku
      • Atypical
      • The Murder of Crows.
      • Composition in White (Painting), The Breathe Residency:
      • Composition in White (Sculpture), The Breathe Residency:
      • Floorplan
      • Paper Scissors Rock
      • Pilgrimage
      • The Fifth Column
      • Tension
      • Arch
    • blogs >
      • The Self-Isolation Residency: Blog 2020-2021
      • Apophenia: An Uncanny Presence. 2022
    • artist statements >
      • Antony Clarkson, General Statement, 2012
      • Antony Clarkson, The Apophenia Series, 2025.
    • cv & education
    • contact