Essay

Artist Statement

October 2002

My focus in art in 2002 has been engaged with two themes.

1. The search for sense of self, identity and place in the world with regard to Diasporic theory.
2. The sensual and seductive ideal of beauty as characterised by the male nude.

Fifteenth century Renaissance theories of beauty, as discussed by Barasch 1985, have informed my theoretical work. Michelangelo’s idea of the ‘immeasurable splendour of supernatural perfection’ and Ficino’s theory of the descending hierarchy of beauties are examples (p.195).  Michelangelo’s idealisation of the male figure has been an inspiration as is the theatricality of the Baroque period.

Three large paintings formed the body of my work in 2002. Each refers to cultural overlays. The paintings are based on square canvases 200 x 200cm.

Culture – New Shirt and Tie 2002 relates to cultural appropriation. In clearly defined structures of space, an ordinary New Zealand interior blends into a traditional Japanese space. The tokonoma, a place for quiet contemplation, has a figure floating that is the hybrid birth of joined cultures. The Japanese and Western figure swap clothes. An aloof and austere manner is maintained with conservative Japanese tradition while the informality of the west reduces the kimono to the theatrical. Outside a figure yearns for the past beyond the density of bush that is forbidding.

 Ideal Beauty 2002 is of less formal structure and spatially more ambiguous. A number of photographic records following a trip to Samoa inspired this work. Traditionally patterned material, post cards and photographs are glued to the canvas. This financially impoverished country is a popular stop for rich western holidaymakers enjoying the natural beauty. Postcards reprinted from the early nineteenth century under the guise of ethnographic exploration sell bare-breasted young island girls to a patriarchal audience. I have reversed this with the images of the sensual, erotic male. I also make reference to the deeply religious culture that this society is founded upon.

Returning to the theme of cultural hybridity, Stages 2002, takes the form of narrative in the construction of the self as expounded by existentialist thought and discussed by Gaarder, 1996, (p.379). A recurring theme in all three works is water. This is a metaphor for the passage of life and everything as one. This could be related to Descartes’ and later Spinoza’s monist theories. These images are influenced by Baroque compositions and the literature of the time. A passage from Shakespeare’s As You Like It relates to life as theatre,

All the world’s a stage…

In one of seven self-images I am dressed in a kilt symbolising my culture. Nudity beckons the viewer to evaluate my identity. I gaze out of the picture, eliciting a response, directly engaging the viewer across the psychological barrier between picture and real time. Masao wears a traditional kimono and is surrounded, but yet separated from, the seductive world of femininity and allure that is contained within the images of the Japanese print. In the work Shakespeare’s words have been translated into hiragana for the purpose of addressing cultural ambiguity. The fluidity of text adds to the visual impact. It also serves to elevate the work to an elitist level of understanding available only to those who are bilingual.

Reference List

Barasch, Moshe.  (1985).  Theories of Art 1 – From Plato to Winckelmann.  New York: Routledge.

Gaarder, Jostein.  (1991).  Sophie’s World.  London: Phoenix.