Nausea
Chrissie Calvert
In reading Nausea, written by Jean Paul-Sartre and The Dharma Bums written by Jack Kerouac, my mind became caught in a web of existentialist ideas in relation to painting. If there is too much importance placed on purpose and the value of intention, work can come to a standstill due to the debilitating fear of failure. On the other hand, if little weight and importance is placed on purpose and the value of intention, works can become generative; There is freedom in acknowledging pointlessness.
I have tried to connect the way I apply the paint, wall filler, ink, gesso and gel to these existentialist ideas. Was I in charge of the form? Or were the materials and circumstances dominating the outcomes? In this way I am playing with purpose and purposelessness in an ongoing game of tug of war.
I am also exploring the value of intention, in terms of my involvement in evoking a particular emotional experience when viewing my work. One example of this is my addition of a moody soundtrack to the works, in which there is a minor melody overlaid with me reading a section of Nausea.
Ken Kiff’s work has a similar life blood to mine. His work feels free flowing because of the Naïveté present. Like myself, Ken did not use prescribed techniques, which creates a link between the subconscious and conscious mind. This is parallel to me playing with purpose and purposelessness. I also connect with his approach to the figure. Ken’s work is in touch with the meaning and feeling that can be expressed through figurative painting versus the anatomical accuracy of the figures and objects present in the work.