Artist's Statement
The old doctor in Laos saw me painting and said "Ah, an artist, the artist is never a prisoner of society." I have thought of this moment often as I contemplate what is the role of an artist.
As society becomes increasingly external, building higher walls and looking for security in the material world, it is the artist's role to reveal truths as we see them. Rembrant did not create etchings of beggars out of sympathy or disgust. He saw beauty in all of humanity. A landscape translated through the painter's hand may remind us of a stillness lost within ourselves. In Gurnecca , Picasso casts light onto our shadows, giving us a glimpse of our dark side.
The artist's journey is an individual journey, and a spiritual journey. The painter wandering in the forest or sitting in the meadow is not sitting idly, waiting to be inspired. Many hours and days are spent making crucial decisions on what to leave out and how to orchestrate from all that we are given. We come to a painting like a poet to paper; not wanting anything other than to see what really is, and to translate that truth into something simple, something pure, coming from deep within our soul.
For the artist to come to this point takes much effort and courage. In a world where wealth is counted on paper; and so much is about doing, the artist must put great effort into just being, remaining still, open to all of life, observing and translating using his own language.
It is the artist; the painters, the poets, musicians and the writers who take a different path. It is down this path that higher truths are often revealed and human consciousness is opened. Rollo May writes of "the timeless fear every society harbors of it's artists, poets and saints. For they are the ones who threaten the status quo, which each society is devoted to protecting."
In the markets they say, a painter must paint, a poet must write, the sculpture does not mix colors and a dancer does not put down words. This is contrary to the nature of an artist who lives an inspired life. Flavors are mixed like colors, words are chipped and reformed like stone, and symphonies can be found in paintings. The artist, if true, sees dance in the brush strokes and poetry in the sculpture's stone.
To many the artist's life sounds like some romantic ideal. The reality is not so easy. Artist by nature and necessity live a life curiously, questioning. We often travel where there are no marked paths.
Living in a culture that moves contrary to the natural systems which sustain it; remaining sensitive and aware while wealth is devoted to building weapons and prisons, demands courage and trust. Life as art is made of dark and light. It is in the awareness of these darks and lights where we connect to what is real. The alternative is what destroys us.
Art is what unites us in being human. It is what reminds us we are all the same. It is the grace and beauty. We are living in a time where we have no choice but to see. There is only love and fear, We can chose to live governed by one or the other. Fear is our desire to dominate; nature and nations. Love is found in our desire for harmony, it is in our passion for creating.
The following works are the translations of my life to date, a giving back from all that I have been given.
Wendell Locke Field