Author: yakob

To quote the great Ricky Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross – ‘They say….’

They say painting is dead. They say that real art is conceptual. I don’t know about all this? To be honest all that stuff seems like brain fodder for intellectuals much smarter than I. I like to make things. My friend Jerome summed it up perfectly- ‘…it’s about being inspired by the things you love and adding to that. Make more of what you would like to see in the world.’

In 1997 I bought my first tattoo machine from John. It was at his old shop on bridge rd Richmond. He was a gentleman then and still is now. A couple of weeks ago my friend Jason from Taiwan flew to Melbourne specifically to catch a tattoo from John, get his book signed and buy a machine. Happily I was able to arrange the appointment and take Jason there. It’s always a treat visiting John in his studio. I was able snap off some shots while he worked. John didn’t mind as he’s a bit of a keen photographer himself.

Pretty great stuff. It’s been a couple years since I was in last. Definitely won’t leave it as long till I’m in again.

I heard beautiful quote from Wim Wenders yesterday about the creative process. I can’t remember it exactly but it was along the lines of- ‘Don’t do anything that you know, deep in your heart, somebody else can do better. Instead do what nobody else can do except for you’

I can’t really add anything to that. I really want to absorb that quote and enact the bravery it takes to implement it.

Using wood panel as a substrate for me has come about for a few different reasons. Some aesthetic and some practical. The first time I saw Manuel Ocampo’s art it burned a hole in my mind. It must have been around 1997-1998? The influence of his work on my approach is huge.

Ocampo works on canvas as well as wood panel. But I always had a soft spot for the pieces on found board with visible wear throughout. I also love the way paint looks on wood. The paint can be both built up or left thin with some of the texture showing through. To me, when I paint on wood I feel the symbols that are being displayed take centre stage instead of the application of paint. I have a tendency when working on canvas to think more about the paint application.

There is a thread that runs through all of these influences that speaks of devotional art. This is art that I understand. I never finished high school and if I’m honest a lot of modern art goes over my head. But I find this art speaks to me. I really enjoy seeing work made by people that are compelled to create with anything they can get their hands on.

Working on wood solves a lot of issues for me. I don’t have to worry about stretching and mounting. I can hard mount my own frames, add 3d elements and create assemblages. But there has been one persistent problem so far that been annoying me. The issue of size. Large boards are prone to warping and are super impractical to ship. I want to work on some large scale pieces but till now I just assumed id have to do those works on canvas. I think now though there is a solution.

Tom Gerrards studio and works.

Yesterday I visited my friend Tom Gerrard’s studio in Prahran and bought up this issue. He gave me a very simple, elegant solution to this. I actually feel pretty stupid that I hadn’t thought of it myself. The idea is making the works modular. Attaching the boards together so they can hung as one but disassembled for shipping and storage. This is a game changer for me. Thanks Tom. So keep an eye out for some larger works on wood coming soon. Im pumped.

I think it’s better to make something that is bad than nothing. It’s better just to do it. After all the joy really is in making something. Learning, then making something else.

One of my more eloquent, anonymous critics said of my work- ‘that art and artist is trash’. He may very well be correct. Most definitely there are much better painters out there. There is definitely better woodworkers. I don’t know what I’m doing a lot of the time, I mostly figure it out. But I would like to retort to the aforementioned critic- ‘The fuck have you done?’

In that spirit of getting things done today I hard mounted some frames to couple of paintings I finished last week.

Would the works look nicer with professionally made frames? Maybe. But then again maybe not. I personally think there’s a charm in making something from start to finish. People say a lot of things, things like- ‘it needs to be done this way or that’. People talk a lot. I think it’s better just to do.

A lot of my favourite art is made by people who don’t know what they are doing, but they make it anyway. Without needing permission. Without caring what anyone thinks. Because they are compelled to make things. To me, that trait will serve an artist, or creative more than any level of technical skill.

I rarely have an idea fully fleshed out before I begin painting. Generally I’ll have a symbol bouncing around my head that I’ll feel compelled to play with. Sometimes it’s a combination of symbols. At times I’ll get obsessed with a particular image over and over and it’s like I need to devour it’s bones, to keep chewing on it for a period of time. Whether it’s a Christ, Kali, snake, etc. lately it has been a white eagle.

So I had a loose idea about a white eagle on a vertically long panel with an egg at the bottom. While painting the eagle and egg it got me thinking about the phoenix motif, which then got me thinking about the importance of suffering before a rebirth. Which then made me remember watching my wife give birth to our daughter, the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced. This, in turn got me thinking about the pattern in reality of the pain and suffering that precedes transformation, joy and beauty. It’s like a law of nature.

Remembering that night 2 years ago when our daughter was born always humbles me, especially if I am wallowing in self pity. It reminds me to remember how strong my wife was and the pain she endured to bring the greatest gift of my life. It also reminds me that when things seems really difficult it’s not permanent and there is beauty coming soon.