thoughts on a common language…

I found this quote in a random magazine…it was to do with something completely different to what I felt about it – it was a quote about custom cars, I think. It works perfectly for me, with my abstract letters, which are almost turned into unrecognisable symbols. I think they compliment each other and make an interesting statement about the evolution of language, text and symbols in our society, now, in the past and into the future…

There is a lot to be said for a common language, such as ease of communication, less confusion, a shared understanding, economies of efficiency… but I can’t help but think my own feelings lie in sympathy with this quote…when we lose individual, quirky, kooky and unique and replace it with generic, mass produced, and common, we lose something really special in the process, in language, art, creativity and in all human endeavours.

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The beauty of imperfection..

I don’t usually paint objects, in fact this is probally the only time I ever have deliberately painted actual objects that exist. There are a lot of things wrong with this painting from a technical perspective. Yet, I like its quirky charm and adore its imperfections. I like its vibrant background, full of texture and colour. I like the way the black naked bust seems to portray the intent of what I had in mind. The strange shaped gold/green jug is a loose portrayal of a faded green jug I own and love. There may be nothing perfect about it, yet it is one of my favourite paintings and the only one of mine that hangs in my room. I smile as even the shape of the canvas has warped slightly in the sunlight, making it no longer a perfect rectangle, as a final nod to the beauty of imperfection.

In the era we live in, with the seemingly relentless pursuit of perfection, never ceasing improvements and upgrades and mass produced sameness, I think that originality, uniqueness and even imperfect but kind of quirky counts for a lot.