Thoughts On Painting
Writing by Ingeborg about her painting
Mar 2000
Plotinus: “ All perceptible things are but signs and symbols of the imperceptible ...”
Roger Fry was “calling for the representation of a different content, to be tapped from a new order of reality”. He fervently believed that the sole legitimate concern in art was “abstract unity in design”. When seeing a realistic rendering of a portrait he quipped “ I cannot see the man for the likeness” indicating that he could not see the essential man beneath the rendering of external traits which would have needed a different kind of artistic vision and expressiveness.
If I would want to phrase the answer to the question about the meaning of art in our lives – in my life – I would say that my experience of art and my expectations of it ,would be to lead me deeper into myself, to show me , evoke in me, feelings and responses to life that hitherto have been dormant and not experienced, to break down old and worn-out assumptions about the possible meaning of our existence/being and to add new perspectives – and with it richness - to the experience of being human.
This s a tall order for the doer as well as the viewer. Neither the doer nor the viewer, listener, reader can depend on the WILL to produce or receive something of value, and apart from being a receptive openness to the experience to be , one is delivered to whatever happens at the time of the encounter.
When asked about the meaning I had intended to express in a certain painting I have to give the often disappointing answer that no meaning had been intended and no outcome had been foreseen before or while working. What I do hope for, however, is that the final result – the new object that has come into being – will exceed me in depth and reach. This hope is always at the bottom of my actions and is the driving force behind my continuous attempts. But no matter how much one succeeds in going “forward”, the blue flower of fulfillment will never be graspable but remain in equal distance from the pursuer. I am thinking of a fairy-tale I have been told in my childhood and of the inherent quality of the colour blue speaking of promise, of distance, of longing, of mystery.
T.S.Eliot says in the “Four Quartets” … “leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle with words and meaning … it was not – to start again- what one had expected…. The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless …” and on another page he says ...” for us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business …”
To come back to Roger Fry’s quote, I am inclined to replace the word representation with presentation, because I do not want to re- present something that is already in existence, that I have already seen and experienced, nor do I want to put on canvas or paper thoughts and feelings that are known to me. I am expecting , hoping for and open to the appearance of a “different content, to be tapped from a new order of reality …”
And this is where the small and restless realm of search connects me with the vast and incomprehensible mystery of existence.
The process of painting – my process of painting – does not allow feelings or premeditated thoughts to enter consciousness while working. However, questioning and critical analysis will have to be applied at points of stepping back and, of course, at the end of the process.
Coming to the end of my notes I have to say that I do not paint for anybody but myself. If however, a painting emerges that does find resonance in the onlooker, then I am indeed very grateful that my work has contributed some value not only to my life but also to the life of someone else.
Quotes from interviews with Ingeborg
“Painting is my attempt to come nearer to the reality of life in the forms and shapes of events I experience…. The process is listening – listening to what is within - and painting then is what emerges from it all.” The Globe and Mail November 14,1974
“For me painting is a walk from a given point in time into the unknown. Painting is asking questions for me; I get no answers but directions appear.” Currents, March / April 1976
“If I would want to phrase the answer to the question about the meaning of art in our lives – in my life - I would say that my experience of art and my expectations of it would be to lead me deeper into myself, to show me , to invoke in me feelings and responses to life that hitherto have been dormant and not experienced, to break down old and worn out assumptions about the possible meaning of our existence and to add new perspectives – and with it richness – to the experience of being human. “
“A common question that is asked of artists, particularly in the abstract realm, is “ What does this mean?” …. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have to paint it. The best part of painting is that you are surprised all the time by what happens. Things develop one from another. My paintings make me see the world in different ways and add dimensions to my life.” Profile, Kingston September 13, 2000
Mar 2000
Plotinus: “ All perceptible things are but signs and symbols of the imperceptible ...”
Roger Fry was “calling for the representation of a different content, to be tapped from a new order of reality”. He fervently believed that the sole legitimate concern in art was “abstract unity in design”. When seeing a realistic rendering of a portrait he quipped “ I cannot see the man for the likeness” indicating that he could not see the essential man beneath the rendering of external traits which would have needed a different kind of artistic vision and expressiveness.
If I would want to phrase the answer to the question about the meaning of art in our lives – in my life – I would say that my experience of art and my expectations of it ,would be to lead me deeper into myself, to show me , evoke in me, feelings and responses to life that hitherto have been dormant and not experienced, to break down old and worn-out assumptions about the possible meaning of our existence/being and to add new perspectives – and with it richness - to the experience of being human.
This s a tall order for the doer as well as the viewer. Neither the doer nor the viewer, listener, reader can depend on the WILL to produce or receive something of value, and apart from being a receptive openness to the experience to be , one is delivered to whatever happens at the time of the encounter.
When asked about the meaning I had intended to express in a certain painting I have to give the often disappointing answer that no meaning had been intended and no outcome had been foreseen before or while working. What I do hope for, however, is that the final result – the new object that has come into being – will exceed me in depth and reach. This hope is always at the bottom of my actions and is the driving force behind my continuous attempts. But no matter how much one succeeds in going “forward”, the blue flower of fulfillment will never be graspable but remain in equal distance from the pursuer. I am thinking of a fairy-tale I have been told in my childhood and of the inherent quality of the colour blue speaking of promise, of distance, of longing, of mystery.
T.S.Eliot says in the “Four Quartets” … “leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle with words and meaning … it was not – to start again- what one had expected…. The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless …” and on another page he says ...” for us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business …”
To come back to Roger Fry’s quote, I am inclined to replace the word representation with presentation, because I do not want to re- present something that is already in existence, that I have already seen and experienced, nor do I want to put on canvas or paper thoughts and feelings that are known to me. I am expecting , hoping for and open to the appearance of a “different content, to be tapped from a new order of reality …”
And this is where the small and restless realm of search connects me with the vast and incomprehensible mystery of existence.
The process of painting – my process of painting – does not allow feelings or premeditated thoughts to enter consciousness while working. However, questioning and critical analysis will have to be applied at points of stepping back and, of course, at the end of the process.
Coming to the end of my notes I have to say that I do not paint for anybody but myself. If however, a painting emerges that does find resonance in the onlooker, then I am indeed very grateful that my work has contributed some value not only to my life but also to the life of someone else.
Quotes from interviews with Ingeborg
“Painting is my attempt to come nearer to the reality of life in the forms and shapes of events I experience…. The process is listening – listening to what is within - and painting then is what emerges from it all.” The Globe and Mail November 14,1974
“For me painting is a walk from a given point in time into the unknown. Painting is asking questions for me; I get no answers but directions appear.” Currents, March / April 1976
“If I would want to phrase the answer to the question about the meaning of art in our lives – in my life - I would say that my experience of art and my expectations of it would be to lead me deeper into myself, to show me , to invoke in me feelings and responses to life that hitherto have been dormant and not experienced, to break down old and worn out assumptions about the possible meaning of our existence and to add new perspectives – and with it richness – to the experience of being human. “
“A common question that is asked of artists, particularly in the abstract realm, is “ What does this mean?” …. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have to paint it. The best part of painting is that you are surprised all the time by what happens. Things develop one from another. My paintings make me see the world in different ways and add dimensions to my life.” Profile, Kingston September 13, 2000
"A common question that is asked of artists, particularly in the abstract realm, is “ What does this mean?” …. "If I knew, I wouldn’t have to paint it. The best part of painting is that you are surprised all the time by what happens. Things develop one from another. My paintings make me see the world in different ways and add dimensions to my life."
Profile, Kingston September 13, 2000
Profile, Kingston September 13, 2000