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More Last Chance, 'cause the Internet is endless
More Last Chance, 'cause the Internet is endless
Every last Friday, I'll bring you more from my column Last Chance.
Ashley Payne's exhibit "I'll Teach Your Grandma to Grow Gills," which is up until Fri., Oct. 2 at the Painted Bride Art Center (230 Vine St., 215-925-9914), is a Rorschach test-, Carl Jung-, Sigmund Freud-inspired doozy. Before seeing the show, I became intrigued with Payne's artist statement, which says: "In order to make these lines purely spontaneous and uncensored, I blindfold myself and allow a limited amount of time to make each layer (5-15 minutes). As a result, the lines that are produced become a visual map of my subconscious. After creating this ground, I remove the blindfold and respond to the new surface as impulsively or instinctually as I can." What emerges are delightfully vague paintings that depict nude women and dark blue whales, aggressive lines and colors that pop. Click here to see more images.
City Paper: Tell me about your process.
Ashley Payne: I start off by blindfolding myself and responding to how I feel. If I'm not in any particular mood, I'll listen to music and respond to that. It becomes like a dance. I time myself for about 10 minutes, take off the blindfold and then respond. Sometimes I'll grab another crayon or color and then put on the blindfold, and work some more. Then I'll step back and find images. Then, at that point, I have a rule. No matter how stupid or embarrassing what I first see is, I have to allow the viewer to see it. I have to develop it.
CP: Do you ever work on something, and then look at it and realize you were thinking about something you weren't even aware of?
AP: Oh yeah, all the time. It can be big things, and it can be little things. In The Way We Give Comfort, for example, there's a dog and people all touching each other in a circle ' and I didn't realize it, but I felt very comforted by those people [they represent in my real life]. Like I was being embraced by them.
CP: When did you start doing this?
AP: A year ago, when I decided that I was sick of the way I was painting. I'd think, that's good, but it's no big deal. But then I'd look at my sketchbooks, which I've kept since I was young, and I really liked what I saw. There was this amazing, authentic energy there, and I wasn't sharing it with anyone. With my normal paintings, I was giving people systematic stories ' that's unfair. I try to be an honest person, and respond to things honestly, but I wasn't doing it with my painting.
CP: Are you ever scared of what might turn up, letting your mind loose like this?
AP: Yes, it's really scary. But that's why I like it.
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