Matthew Meyer

Jan Avgikos

MFA Semester II

1 February 2013

                                   Second Residency Summary

Regarding subject matter:

-“I think you are desperately in search of subject matter.”

-“As a viewer I feel like I’m somewhat left out in the cold here.”

-“Pursue these things that are all around you.”

-“I think that what happens when you’re out in the landscape or in a moment like this portrait- for me what happens is the painting opens up to a space of lifestyle. There’s a set of values that’s remarkably different from shit that’s made in China.””

-“Your subject matter is your life, but it’s also your circumstances and your environment, and your family… I feel myself wanting more access to that- more access to the portraits and the places and the feel of the skies in Maine… that kind of record of your life.”

- “Interesting tension in that it’s hard to tell who painted what or whom in the collaborative work…”

- “You’re projecting myself onto the object. In that way, the still life becomes a vehicle for an exploration of yourself. Seen in this way the duck becomes a kind of self-portrait.”

-Portraits and landscapes have ‘more of you in them’

-re. the hot dogs and ducks: “funny, yet disquieting…but human, too”

-“Explore the portrait.”

-Investigate the role of ‘painter as performer’

-“Studio is great- paintings that reflect on the time and solitude of the studio”

-“The compositions are non-compelling in the portraits.”

“The portraits aren’t interesting enough for me.”

“The ducks could be much more of a vessel, an emotional container”

“Make it (the duck) more of a fetish object. Make the stakes a bit higher. Think of these things as surrogates”.

-I was encouraged to paint not just from life- but my life.

-“There’s a stillness and quietness here that’s compelling.”

-“Landscapes are also evocative of a lifestyle that’s slower and removed from city life.. the time of rural life”

-“These paintings seem very personal, and that’s a strength”

As one can see, I received quite a bit of feedback on my subject matter this term, some of it contradictory. While the advice concerning the still lives (ducks, hot dogs, etc.) was appreciated, and I do still find those subjects compelling, it is clear that I need to pursue more personal subject matter for at least the time being. It is time to take a step back from the serial still life and to investigate the larger theme of my life as a painter living in coastal Maine. While the rubber ducks and other objects I’ve painted repeatedly over the years have come to have personal significance for me, I cannot assume that they will engender the same feelings in the viewer. My time spent painting should be double-downed on the people, places, and things with which my life is already entwined.

As much of my daily life is spent in the studio, I expect that it will also figure into my new body of work. These paintings will refer not just to my life, but to the act of painting itself.  The practice of spending vast amounts of solitary, personal time with a few discrete pieces of the outside world towards the end of recording, in paint, the experience of observing them is a process outside the experience of most people. Painter, subject, and painting weather a substantial amount of solitary time together, during which a bond is forged that can be found in few other disciplines.   Certainly, it is an experience far removed from the typical grab-and-go hurly burly of contemporary life.  Bringing across an excitement, or at least awareness, of this peculiarly human endeavor to the viewer is a challenge I look forward to pursuing.

Regarding technique:

 “Experiment with pushing the non-local color and leaving areas unfinished.”

“I like the paint handling better in the ducks  than the portraits. Check out how Thiebault manifests his stuff.”

-“I’d like to see more juxtaposition of thin and thick.”

--“Don’t be so safe. Allow yourself to scream and shout. Be impolite. I want to see at least one ‘fuck you’ painting next term”

“Portrait is a pose I’ve seen before”

-“Put some obstacles between you and the work” (time constraints, etc.)

“Break out of this illustrative stuff. Get messier. More powerful. Make it more of a vital struggle.”

“Get up to speed with contemporary painters. Learn their vocabulary. Check out some more abstract painters. Experiment with paint handling a bit more.”

This was good stuff to hear. While I paint the way I do for a reason, it’s good to step back and question my rationale from time to time. Truth be told, some of my work did seem a bit safe once I saw it all up on the wall. I expect that I will revisit some of the bolder mark-making days of my youth over this next term.  I resist the notion of adopting another painter’s manner sheerly for the sake of appearing more contemporary, though. Painting is a discipline steeped in tradition. Its ties to the past- not just recent memory or current fashion- is one of its strengths. Too often these days there is a tendency to equate ‘edginess’ with being au courant. It seems that there is an unspoken assumption that every profound statement must contain a note of doom or desperation. Still, I don’t want to keep my head stuck in the sand, either. Getting up to speed with what other painters are doing will not only open my eyes to options I have not considered, but it will help me to position my work in today’s critical discourse.

I agree that I could be a little more adventurous with some of my paint handling, and will endeavor to do so. I must remain sensitive to the surface and how the physicality of paint can help to carry the message behind the work. Matt Saunders’ talk was very inspiring in this regard. His content is inseparable from his materials, and they both work in support of one another.

I look forward to finding a tighter binding of message and expression in my own work this term. I have been charged with the task of letting my daily life direct my subject matter, and I believe this can only result in a greater degree of sincerity and genuine reality in my work. In addition, I am anxious to begin the process of situating my work, traditional as it is, in relation to contemporary discourse.