My work practice centres mainly on one basic principle – how the world is full of wonder and awe, full of mystery. Naturally then I gravitate towards those artists who explore the concept of mystery and question it. Turner expressed this is his deep exploration into light, its origin, and its affects and is purported to have said on his deathbed ‘the sun is God.’ He did all sorts of scientific experiments with glass balls and pigment and how light reacted with various colours. In other words he was deeply interested in colour theory and its affect on human perception. He was also quick to adapt to and learn about the new phenomenon of photography that was introduced during his lifetime. He spent many hours with the photographer J. E. Mayhall in the 1850’s learning what he could about photography and the use of light and anything he could adapt to his painting technique.
I have a great bond with artists who ask questions about reality, truth and beauty, fundamental questions about existence and the role of the human being. I consider Anish Kapoor and Bill Viola to be two such artists; contemporary artists working in sculpture and video respectively. Both of them use colour in a very pure way. What I get from their work is how passionate both are in directing a focus to the yin and yang nature of human beings and the duality of relationship between the rational and the sensual aspects of character that coexist in the human being.
My response to Kapoor’s earlier work (where he used raw pigment in an ambiguous manner to create very striking confrontational exhibits), is that his pieces invoke very basic initial gut reactions; which in turn spark thought, feeling, and a third component in perception - a deeper contemplative spiritual reaction to very fundamental issues relating to body and soul.
Take this image from 1981 titled ‘I discovered a Mountain Blooming with Red Flowers
In his later work, particularly the public sculptures such as ‘Cloud’, and ‘Sky Mirror’ (even though I have not had the pleasure of experiencing these in person) I feel the significance of Kapoor’s invitation to become involved and to enter into a numinous space. To quote Anish Kapoor regarding ‘Sky Mirror’
“ here is an incomplete circle which says come and be involved. And without your involvement as a viewer there is no story.” Sound, scale, light, reflection, colour, engagement with the environment, playfulness and mystery are all part of his large sculptural installations.
Anish Kapoor also incorporates sound into many of his sculptures and so enhances the engagement of the viewer on yet another level. He is an artist well worth looking at in greater depth.
