I view art making as a continuous process of self discovery tempered by a qualifying relationship to the precedents of Art history. In other words, the Art precedents must be maintained, or referentially put in evidence in the work, in order to allow the work to meaningfully break away from them. Decisions carried out without an inherent reference of measure lack meaning. Self-discovery is a significant means of change in Art, but at the same time, it must be put in a measurable context to carry meaningful content. Admittedly, this means the audience must be educated in art, but this is the area in which professionally orientated Art operates.
Even though I have sometimes worked with recognizable subject matter, ninety percent of the work I have made is abstractly metaphorical rather than illustrationally narrative. I have pursued relational imagery, rather than representational images, because I am interested in the direct actuality of optical patterns, rather than portraying something that is not present. A representational approach depends on the viewer’s past or imagined connection to the subject matter for much of the content context, while abstraction depends on subjective, emotional associations evoked when one is confronted with a direct viewing experience.
I’ve been making paintings and wall based objects for more than fifty years. Although there have been several conceptual variables and changes in approach and execution, the consistent approach has been to find content by carrying out intuitive responses to materials and happenstance situations in the studio. To be authentic, the responses have to reveal something significant about my psyche. The sometimes difficult and conceptualized part of all of this is creating and executing a recognized but inventive Art context that is apropos of the realized content.
I prefer a metaphorical approach to constructing images rather than a purely design approach because I am not interested in beautifully arranged images. If there is beauty in the work I want it to come from the refined evidence of the struggle to make it meaningful. The elements and form in the painting have to be justified by the metaphor I sense in the emerged image. The titles of my works often are clues to the metaphor I have experienced in making the work. I don’t expect that the viewer will always experience the metaphor that I have experienced, but I hope that the matrix of the image is authentic enough to evoke a meaningful response. – Ron Jackson
Even though I have sometimes worked with recognizable subject matter, ninety percent of the work I have made is abstractly metaphorical rather than illustrationally narrative. I have pursued relational imagery, rather than representational images, because I am interested in the direct actuality of optical patterns, rather than portraying something that is not present. A representational approach depends on the viewer’s past or imagined connection to the subject matter for much of the content context, while abstraction depends on subjective, emotional associations evoked when one is confronted with a direct viewing experience.
I’ve been making paintings and wall based objects for more than fifty years. Although there have been several conceptual variables and changes in approach and execution, the consistent approach has been to find content by carrying out intuitive responses to materials and happenstance situations in the studio. To be authentic, the responses have to reveal something significant about my psyche. The sometimes difficult and conceptualized part of all of this is creating and executing a recognized but inventive Art context that is apropos of the realized content.
I prefer a metaphorical approach to constructing images rather than a purely design approach because I am not interested in beautifully arranged images. If there is beauty in the work I want it to come from the refined evidence of the struggle to make it meaningful. The elements and form in the painting have to be justified by the metaphor I sense in the emerged image. The titles of my works often are clues to the metaphor I have experienced in making the work. I don’t expect that the viewer will always experience the metaphor that I have experienced, but I hope that the matrix of the image is authentic enough to evoke a meaningful response. – Ron Jackson