Chance

Chance:

Living through the hopeless years of WW1 left many artists feeling rebellious, wanting to disassociate their art with politics or any kind of conventional norms. The DaDaist were the anti-art collective that laughed in the face of the rich and powerful, those who chose what belonged in the galleries and museums. This group challenged all that was traditionally, rational and collectively accepted by the elite class.
Their art was the opposite of all that and the celebration of improvised performance and ridiculous nonsense. With the influence of Freudian and Jungian psychology, these reactionary groups went inside to explore their unconscious and allow it to bubble up and out onto their canvas and into which ever form it chose. The Surrealists and then the Action Painters let pure expression flow, giving up control of what it would say and how it would manifest. Through chance their art created itself.

This type of art is so interesting to me since it is mysteriously layered with deep personal meaning. I believe I have been making this kind of art most of my life, at least in my drawing and painting.  It is therapeutic and sometimes unexpectedly beautiful. After looking back on some of these I can find a meaning that I was not conscious of while making it. After learning about art and all of it’s intricacies I am more aware of how it can be a vehicle for transmitting powerful messages. I am more thoughtful in my intentions for making art now and in some ways it is stifling and in other ways it is pushing me to grow.