I went to NYC a couple of months ago and spent a lot of time just checking out the street art. Other than music it's probably the biggest influence on my work. I haven't been able to paint much this year, since Mark (my husband) was killed. It'll be a year this Christmas.
I feel lately though like I'm coming through it and in the last couple of weeks I've really come out with some work that I'm happy with for the first time in nearly a year.
These new paintings are very urban and street art inspired. I've always been fascinated with urban graffiti art and it's been a strong influence in my work.
There's something I find compelling about street art, when it's good. Some kind of vital rawness that shuns the provincial, mainstream aesthetic. Like a dandelion forcing it's way through the concrete mentality of the art world, street art is rebellion. Arguably a necessary component to art itself.So now, several decades after Pollock pissed in Guggenheim's fireplace and it's just a contest every year to see which art school enfant can be more terrible. It's all gotten so boring and predictable. And it doesn't have a thing to do with art. Or it shouldn't anyway.
Sometimes I wonder if it's the only audible heartbeat of an art world choking to death on it's own poshlost is the art coming from the so-called criminals like Banksy that would rather remain anonymous and give it away for free than risk being labelled a sell-out hack. It makes you think, don't it? :)
:: About this Series ::
The SAV-MOR Series really only has one common link which is that after I lay down the initial textures I do an image transfer of the weekly Sav-Mor circular (think of it as recycling if you want) that these people insist on leaving wedged in my door every Tuesday.
I guess there's probably some common corporate drone imagery in many of them and also some kind of ironic thread that they share as well.
Okay, so sav(e) mor(e) of what, exactly? Money? Not so's you'd notice. Trees? Apparently not that either.
But in their defense: They do seem to like to use the letter 'e' sparingly... so there's that.