Blog Posts - antony clarkson

The Athole House Studio
Self-Isolation Artist Residency
30th March 2020

Over my career I have taken part in many artist residencies in various parts of the world; I have even organised and run a residency program myself. 2020 has brought new challenges to us all, I however intend to treat these challenges as opportunities. With this in mind today, the first day of my self-isolation having arrived back from my studio in the Untied States last night, I I launch my new blog which will become an integral part of this website as I redesign is over the coming weeks.

Artist Residencies give artists the space and perhaps more importantly the time to make new work; I intend to treat my time in self-isolation in the same way that I would if I were on an artist residency in another studio in another part of the world. Athole House Studio maybe one of my home studios but for me it is a work space, and lets face it, we all now have the time.

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 13th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 321

2/13/2021

'The Constant Library', Volume XVII:
"The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus."

'The Constant Library', Volume XVII: "The Myth of Sisyphusy, Albert Camus."

"The idea for 'The Constant Library' follows on from a recent conversation considering which books had, and continue to have, the greatest affect my life in a variety of different ways. These are the books I can't live without and whenever possible I have a copy of with me wherever I travel in the world; my 'Constant Library."

The Myth of Sisyphus philosophises on the nature of the absurd, it argues that if life is as absurd as Sisyphus’s challenge then why go on at all? For Sisyphus there was of course no dilemma, each time his labours were ridiculed by the rock once again rolling down that slope he had no choice but to follow it once again to the depths from which he would once again begin his endless torture. Camus finds strength in Sisyphus's return journey even in his endless and hopeless task.

Beyond the philosophy of the piece I also love it as a figure study, Camus's description of our hero: 'body straining...face screwed up...shoulder bracing...foot wedging', the whole thing is a wonderfully sculptural depiction of the strength and fortitude of man.

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 12th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 320

2/12/2021

New painting: "The Unfound."
Oil paint on plywood block, 150 x 150 mm.

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 12th February 2021.
Part 28: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime.

In some, perhaps partly, originally, unconscious way I do believe that my paintings are actually integrating the philosophies of self-portraiture, still-life and landscape painting. In many ways I believe that this whole process of isolation has for me been something of a self-portrait as I explore myself by means of exploring my work. When I consider this project/time in this way, I reflect back to one of my first completed paintings during it: ‘Desiderata (things desired)’, this piece used the still-life formula to express the self in portrait form. Now as my time and my paintings progress, I find myself making surreal landscapes which, although drawing heavily on the Sottish landscape, I feel are also an expression of the inner landscape of my psyche. So far, these landscapes are on the whole just empty spaces, voids filled with vague shapes and forms, but I now feel, see the prospect of them beginning to be inhabited with, albeit surreal objects, desiderata. ‘The Unfound’?

To be continued...

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 11th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 319

2/11/2021

On my easel No 22. Working title: "The Unfound."
Oil paint on plywood block, 150 x 150 mm

'On my easel' is a series of posts that I am adding to the Self-Isolation Residency Blog which will consider a current painting which is within days or sometimes hours of completion. This isn't quite the same as 'work in progress' as many of the pieces under consideration in this category may actually be complete already. These are generally going to be works which I am reflecting on for one reason or another and it is these needs for reflection which are preventing me from 'accepting' the work as complete.'

I'm really not sure if this piece is quite finished yet, although it feels pretty close. I've very much managed to capture the sense of space and depth that I wanted along with interesting textures and brush marks. There is still something that I cant quite put my fingure on about it but I will try living with it for a day or so before I do anything else to it.

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 10th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 318

2/10/2021

New work in progress. Working title: "Found landscape."
Oil paint on plywood block, 150 x 150 mm

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 10th February 2021.
Part 27: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime.

I turn at this point to a consideration of my own current work, how it is evolving and what in what way is it functioning? If I am to be considered to be the own guinea pig of my own social experiment, as an artist, I have to remain constantly aware of how I am both affected by my circumstances and also how I express these effects through my art work during the isolation lockdown? If I review all of the work which I have created during this period I find that there is a wide catalogue of subjects and styles; I have experimented with self-portraiture and still-life work as well as with landscape, mainly although not exclusively, through the medium oil painting.

Part of me wonders sometimes if the idea of the self-portrait or even the still-life might not be a more relevant way to consider where my psyche is during this time? Surely, a self-portrait involves such a self-reflective baring of the soul, that it should be an ideal subject for exploration during these circumstances? By the same rule, an examination of the items which I chose to surround myself with, and particularly those which I regularly interact with during my isolation, should throw a revealing light upon but my character and how it is dealing with the current situation? So why has landscape, albeit in its most abstract form, have become the area I find myself expressing myself in most comprehensively?
Perhaps because in their abstractions these paintings are landscapes of my mind?

To be continued...

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 9th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 317

2/9/2021

New painting: "The things that I have seen."
Oil paint on canvas, 254 x 254 mm.

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 9th February 2021.
Part 26: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime

However, another artist whom I have been interested in for a long time and whose work has once again found a place in my recent research is John Martin. Martin can in many ways be considered as the English ‘Friedrich’; both were painting dramatic, ‘Romantic’ landscapes at about the same time and in both cases these landscapes included, significant, human figures. Having said that, the way in which these figures are portrayed as interacting with the landscapes in the paintings differs greatly, even to the point of contradiction.

Martin was not just a painter of Romantic or spiritual scenes, he was also a religious painter. His works set out to capture a religious sublime by taking as their subject’s biblical passages or stories. This making his paintings something akin to altarpieces; these were paintings created to instruct and often to intimidate an errant flock. They are very much paintings of fire and brimstone and the inhabitants of them are victims caught up in Martin’s divine infernos; they are actors, at best, they spectators of the scene.

Friedrich’s paintings by contrast owe their spirituality to something very different. Friedrich seeks the sublime through encounters with nature, a common theme in German art. Consequently, the figures in his paintings play a very different role; if Martins figures are spectators then Friedrich’s are observers. In fact, Friedrichs figures are often almost so far outside of the landscape that to an extent they break the fourth wall and join us in the gallery, beyond the frame. These are cool, contemplative and very Germanic paintings, paintings in which it appears that their inhabitants are themselves on a quest for the sublime.

To be continued...

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 8th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 316

2/8/2021

New work in progress. Working title: "A Difference."
Oil paint on canvas, 406 x 610 mm

Although far from complete I am much happier with this painting's latest progression. The piece originally had the working title 'A Different Blue' when I was working on it in late January, but it has gone through such radical changes that even the working title has had to be changed.

Something about it says to me that this may be one of those paintings which is never complete but becomes an exercise in painting. These can be very frustrating but intructive paintings as I tend to learn a lot from them.

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 7th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 315

2/7/2021

'The Constant Library', Volume XVI:
"The Skeleton's Holiday, Leonora Carrington."

'The Constant Library', Volume XVI: "The Skeleton's Holiday, Leonora Carrington."

"The idea for 'The Constant Library' follows on from a recent conversation considering which books had, and continue to have, the greatest affect my life in a variety of different ways. These are the books I can't live without and whenever possible I have a copy of with me wherever I travel in the world; my 'Constant Library."

Today has been very much a research day, so it seemed like an appropriate time to return to The Constant Library.

The Skeleton's Holiday is, for several reasons, an ideal book for inclusion in The Constant Library. The first reason is obviously because of the wonderful, surreal qualitities of the short stories included in this collection. Leonora Carrington may be better know to most people as a Visionary surrealist painter (which is the second reason for the book's inclusion in the library) but when you begin the read her fiction you realise where the imagery in her paintings evolves from. Or perhaps it was the other way around? I suspect that, as with most fertile imaginations, Carrinton's creativity was almost boundless allowing all the areas of her output in influence and be connected to each other. This is the way that I tend to work (my third reason for the book's inclusion) from painting to sculpture to installation, which makes me very appreciative of both the qualities and difficulties of such a practice.

There is actually a forth reason for the book's inclusion in the constant library, which may in some ways be small, but in a way this size is significant; this book is published as part of the series of Penguib Moderns, which are both very affordable, and more importantly as part of The Constant Library, pocket sized.

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 6th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 314

2/6/2021

On my easel No 21. Working title: "Dragging the Anchor."
Oil paint on canvas, 254 x 254 mm.

'On my easel' is a series of posts that I am adding to the Self-Isolation Residency Blog which will consider a current painting which is within days or sometimes hours of completion. This isn't quite the same as 'work in progress' as many of the pieces under consideration in this category may actually be complete already. These are generally going to be works which I am reflecting on for one reason or another and it is these needs for reflection which are preventing me from 'accepting' the work as complete.'

This is a horrible painting to photograph, I've been working on it for over an hour and this is the best I've managed, There seems to be no way that I can capture all the subtleties of the piece, ironically in the end I have had to actually remove it from the easel to get even a reasonable image. .

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 5th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 313

2/5/2021

New work in progress. Working title: "Dragging the Anchor."
Oil paint on canvas, 254 x 254 mm.

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 5th February 2021.
Part 25: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime

So, I now have two different although connected uses of the word sublime at my disposal:

‘to inspire awe due to elevated qualities’ and ‘to cause to pass directly from solid to vapour’.

Both of these definitions, seen from a Nineteenth Century perspective, such as through the eyes of the Romantic painter Casper David Friedrich, can be though to relate to spiritual experiences: an elevated, awe-inspiring deity and a transcendence of the soul from the solid body to the vaporous spirit.

I also would make similar connects with the work of the contemporary artist James Turrell, who says that he is a ‘sculptor of light’. Coming, as Turrell does, from a Quaker background, his preoccupation with light must be seen in context of ‘Inner Light’, and here, once again, it becomes a sublimation to an elevated state from the solidity of the body to the vaporous spirit. I would argue that this is most evident in his ‘sky space’ installations which place the body below and the vapour (light, sky) above.

To be continued...

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 4th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 312

2/4/2021

New painting: "To Cast the Glamor."
Oil paint on plywood block, 150 x 150 mm.

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 4th February 2021.
Part 24: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime.

Over the last day or so I’ve returned to considering what the phrases, ‘an unsettling appeal’ and ‘the search for the sublime’, mean to me and perhaps how I can contextualise and refine them with greater finesse. When I have previously discussed ‘the sublime’ I have called it a ‘terrifying beauty’, but that perhaps has more to do with an archaic, poetic use of the word than the ideal which I am considering. I certainly want to convey a sense of awe in reference to my current work but terrifying beauty? Perhaps not. I am however drawn to the other meanings of the word sublime and how perhaps they are relevant to my work and also how they may be considered in the context of the works of other artists: Friedrich, Turner and perhaps Turrell.

There are two basic, although related, definitions of the word sublime. The first is an adjective and this is the ones which is usually considered in relationship to art and particularly painting: “tending to inspire awe usually because of elevated qualities, lofty, grand, exalted, transcendent”. Transcendent, I like that word.

The second is however a transitive verb and is more often used in scientific terms: “to cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapour state and to condense back to the solid form. To render finer, to convert something inferior into something of higher worth”.
When I consider the sentence: ‘to cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state and to condense back to the solid form’, I can’t help but to think of the paintings of Casper David Friedrich and how his mountains become clouds and his clouds become mountains with no hint of transition in between.

To be continued...