Elroy
Christenson
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Great
art,
like a great religion, is never
indifferent. It always leaves a lasting
impression on the back of the mind. Great
art, generally, is also life affirming in
nature. It deals with aspirations, hopes,
and dreams. Kandinsky's abstractions,
O'Keefe's hills and bones, Khajaraho's
sensual sculpture drive me forward into
connections with others and sets a
precedent for my new beginnings. My work is the outcome of years of experience and experimentation. It springs first from the simple line image, often unexpectedly. The shape takes on a life of it's own. It matures slowly with each redrawing, swelling, shrinking and growing. As the shape changes it calls for stability and color. It finally is transformed into another material, no longer paper and paint but now built from wood, glue and canvas or tempered by fire and hammer. My three dimensional shaped canvases are large scale versions of these two dimensional drawings. Eventually canvas stretched over a plywood relief form, they are painted with brush blended acrylic to extract the hard undulating shapes. Other works in bronze or steel are built off the same dynamic need into stiff opposing shapes which are painted for my intended impact and symbol. It becomes the cool, hard or soft manifestation of the line image into physical reality. It is the object of my touch and can be caressed with both the hand and the eye. My work is also an exhibit of the pertinent connections with other forces of nature. It is unabashedly sensuous and regales in its beauty and spontaneity, maleness and femaleness. It is the lingum and yoni, inseparable and independent. These forces push in upon one another until a state of equilibrium has been achieved. This effect can be seen in gravitational push and pull, in the swaying of a tree in a storm, in the dropping of a stone into a still pond, or simply spitting into the wind. One force acts, the other reacts. One force gives, the other receives. The universe is in continual contrast and conflict; these forces create change and set the stage for further development in relationships with people, objects and my world. |