Basement Café #1 - acrylic and wax pastel on paper (300gsm), 40 x 29.5 cm
In January and February, my qualms about my aesthetic endeavors tend to reach their peak. Last year, for instance, I decided to make a picture a day, all through January - using different techniques, themes, and ideas for each day. The idea was to understand more of what I was comfortable and capable of doing. As for this year, these months have been a time of intense reflection. I've been dissatisfied with a lot of paintings/drawings where I've tried to say more of the things I want to say. I also read this article on aesthetics and realism that made me doubt so much of what I've done, and am doing. While doubt is a necessary part of both progress and humility, sooner or later it has to be put in the background.
By accident, I came across some of Kouta Sasai's work, which was exactly what I needed. It reminded me that painting/drawing is an opportunity. An opportunity to shift and distort the reality we experience, in a way that, in a very concrete sense, puts the focus on what's important - and beautiful. That doesn't necessarily mean that any commitment we have to represent reality is abandoned. Because reality is, obviously, so much more than simply the observable surface. Realism as a goal can mean stretching, contrasting, or underplaying it (along with many other things) - without losing it's power to say something that is, indeed, real.
This painting, and another one, were the first ones I made after having arrived at those more productive reflections. They are both based on my time living in my favorite city, and the political energy there. I remember those wonky buildings, apartments, and basements so well. They were rehearsal spaces, meeting venues, cafés. That's such a great deal of what social movements are to me: just supportive people making and doing things together, because it needs to be done.
#AcrylicPainting #WaxPastel #Painting #NonbinaryArtist #VeganArtMaterials
Illi Anna Heger
gom (they/them)
