Bowen Island artist Stuart Slind will be exhibiting a series of portraits at Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver on Saturday, August 16 (Opening Reception 2-4pm). Titled Poetics of Persona, the exhibition includes portraits of individuals who the artist has encountered over the past year.
Best known for his highly meditative paintings of objects and landscapes, this latest body of work, the artist forges new ground by applying his still life techniques to animate and emotionally complex subjects.
Stuart Slind answered the following questions on his work:
How would you describe your work?
I like to describe my work as an attempt to find the serenity that is within the subject. Whether it is portraits, landscapes or everyday objects I try to go beyond the outward details to find the inner repose of the subject.
What is your favourite medium and why?
I work in oils for their richness and the depth of expression that they allow.
What themes do you like to explore in your art work?
In my recent portrait work, I have sought to go beyond the visual markers that identify individuality and seek a more universal interpretation of the individual. It is not the biographical details that interest me but the inner spirituality that I find endlessly fascinating.
How do you get inspired?
I find inspiration by learning to lose myself in other activities like taking walks in nature. I find I can only become inspired by not thinking about my practice. By turning off the analytical mind can I find a more connected mind.
What is your process for creating?
I begin by examining the subject before me. I study the shape, the colour and the texture of each object or scene I paint to make sure I am aware of its subtle details. While my goal is always to capture the meditative quality of my subject, I am constantly fascinated by the way time effects my work. The various hues that make up an evening sky as it changes into dusk or the constantly shifting expressions of the sitters in my latest series of portraits provide a sense of intrigue to a final composition that I may not have been initially considered during my initial study.
While my goal is always to capture the meditative quality of my subject, I am constantly fascinated by the way time effects my work. The various hues that make up an evening sky as it changes into dusk or the constantly shifting expressions of the sitters in my latest series of portraits provide a sense of intrigue to a final composition that I may not have been initially considered during my initial study.
Tell us about your current exhibit?
My latest body of work is a collection of people I encountered over the past year. Each possesses a underlying emotion that is detectable, but not necessarily defined by their physiology or clothing. Through contemplation and conversation with the subject before me, I distill a pure and spiritual element unique to their essential being and allow it to become the focus of the portrait.
The collection is a significant departure from my still life’s and landscapes, because I am forced to react to the changing appearance of an animate subject. I have maintained the same approach to the portraits as I have my earlier work, but character of each sitter makes this collection more personal and symbolic. It is this relationship between the soul of the sitter and my intense study of it that radiates off the canvas and into the space of the viewer.
