Painting is seeing. Seeing is memetic, as Aristotle rightly said. Memesis means imitating, like Beethoven imitating the joyful sounds of spring, like the poet imitating the emotions engendered while ambling around a Scottish glen, like the dancer imitating the idea of loneliness. While you think about imitating an emotion or an idea, I’ll describe the other meaning that “seeing” has for me.
Many artists struggle with the notorious problem of knowing when a painting is finished. (This is not the same as not knowing how to finish a painting.) For those who believe that art is entirely the spontaneous expression of inspiration, the existence of this problem might be a shock. But the vast majority of art ever made is the result of discipline and hard work over a long period–a marathon, not a sprint.
I’ve finished a painting when my eye tells me it’s finished; when my eye sees what it needs to see. Oftentimes, what I want is irrelevant.
When I’m in sync with my eye, the painting goes well. Everything my brush touches adds substance to the painting and gladdens my eye. During these times, my brush heals the painting and imparts life to it.
Is seeing knowing?
