OTHER an online exhibit

 

 

A series of new work illuminating the otherness hidden behind layers of perception and reality.  Transformed by vibrations and impulses, these altered lines or wavelengths reside somewhere closer to our souls than our physical bodies.  RenO states that, “All the images began as a series of straight lines turned into patterns and manipulated digitally into fields of abstract undulations.  These fields were then altered and changed into resemblances of people or portraits. “

 

The ten imaginary portraits of otherness resemble colorless x-rays showing revealed lines of energy and internal motion. The most sophisticated instruments or scanners today are currently unable to show what really lies beyond the shadows and bones of our existence. Simple lines curving and bending into echoes of form reminiscent of schizophrenic expression or the creative impulse of insanity.  Chaotic lines reverberating into nervous patterns of shape. 

 

This series takes inspiration from the work of the mentally ill and quite possibly art made under the influence of hallucinogenics.  What’s interesting in those modes of art making is the altered frequencies of creation outside of the norm.  There seems to be a tendency to illustrate internal components of self not seen in reality.  Also, there is a drive or focus fixated on detail and pattern making or repetition.  The tendencies of art making were theorized and brought into light by the German psychiatrist and art historian Hanz Prinzhorn who wrote Artistry of the Mentally Ill: a contribution to the psychology and psychopathology of configuration in 1922.  This book was introduced to RenO in college while reading essays by the French artist Jean Dubuffet who felt the strength of art was more dependent on a self taught discipline rather than formal training. Prinzhorn’s writing goes on to say that art can stem from various sources including: an expressive urge, the urge to play, an ornamental urge, an ordering tendency, a tendency to imitate, and the need for symbols.

 

Importantly here, the images focus mainly on imitation and play and finding new ways to make light of our human internal complexities and the connection to all artists who feel obliged to create something that does not exist.  Each portrait has these multiple layers of line reminiscent of onion skin, tree trunks, or rock formations which does imply some sort of order and connection to our natural world.  This small series is based on experimentation and the notion of what if.  It’s nonconventional in comparison to RenO’s repertoire of color and shape, but shows a connection to and a compassion for, like Prinzhorn and Dubuffet, the ordinary people of our world with disease and illness trying to make sense of it all in honest ways.  If we feel then we think, and henceforth are driven to create.  These new images of “Other” stand to justify this belief.