Statement
My work presents an aesthetic
and technique that relates to the stressed drama and turbulent
emotions of the Romanticism of the mid-nineteenth century,
but also attempts to explore the complexities of expression,
as well as the multifaceted possibilities of seeing, which
modern abstraction permits. It is an attempt at creating
a personal vision, where the spontaneity and beauty of
draftsmanship, which traces a naturalistic vision, mixes
with historical, mythological and abstract concepts that
give rise to contrast, and in doing so, challenge the subjectivity
of an art that is purely conceptual.
My personal objective is that of
creating a work that is beautiful—not necessarily
a beauty that adheres to the strict Aristotelian parameters
of aesthetics, but as an authentic personal attempt at
expressing that which a mind considers beautiful after
being victimized by the constant barrage of imagery in
advertising and mass-produced media entertainment.
My art is influenced by the moralizing, narrative attempt
of historical art movements such as the Pre-Raphaelites
and Neoclassicism. I dedicate myself to executing a technique
that is minute in detail. The truth in the depiction of
the everyday and the ordinary maintains a delicate balance
with the abstract of the subconscious and the romantic
and often heroic aspects of that which is libidinous.
The absence of color in my work
serves to keep a distance between the spectator and the
struggle that takes place in a particular art piece.
The art viewer is confronted with themes of conflict
and violence, of religious fervor and ethereal visions,
but there is no active participation in them. The flat
two-dimensional format of a painting, the trompe-l'oeil
illusionism of a classical draftsmanship no longer convince
the modern viewer of the events that the artwork presents,
thus contributing to a culture that caters to the needs
of the "great spectator" whose
real interests lie only in watching without real involvement
and in judging without comprehending. It is drawing figures
as abstract characters in automatic writing, that I depict
a narrative personal to me and mysterious to the viewer.
My work consists mostly of large-scale
pencil and charcoal drawings on wood panels that can range
in size from four feet square to eight feet tall by 36
feet wide. One series of my drawings play with the contrast
of figurative classical representation and the surrounding
chaos and improvisation that depicts the city of Tijuana,
Mexico where I was born. I am also interested in depicting
human suffering and the representation of violence through
a work that is not itself violent but looks for the expression
of beauty. I feel my work identifies with the turbulent
emotions of art movements such as the Symbolist and Romantic
painters of the nineteenth century, attempting to explore
the complexities of human expression from alienation to
acceptance and even celebratory to its surroundings.
Lately, my drawings have departed from
including the human figure and I have drawn empty cityscapes,
suggesting the life of the city and its people inside the
houses and buildings. My most recent work is a panoramic
view of the border city of Tijuana, Mexico done on 2 feet
high by 4 feet long wood panels. It is a drawing in progress
where I keep adding panels to the image attempting to mimic
a rapidly growing improvised city. I have been working
on this piece since January 2003 and is now 40 feet long.
This panoramic cityscape does not depict actual locations
of Tijuana but presents a personal interpretation where
the viewer is confronted with the feeling and look of the
city. It represents the haphazard architecture and lack
of urban planning that is characteristic of this border
city, where the construction seems to form layers that
resemble some sort of abstract urban sediment.
August 2004
Hugo Crosthwaite
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