ANCIENT VISIONS: A HOMAGE TO MESOAMERICAN ART
After touring several of the ancient Mexican mesoamerican sites and after seeing the plethora of artifacts, I was filled with admiration and inspiration. I could hardly wait to begin painting. I am still amazed at how contemporary much of the art appears. One can hardly believe that the olmec art was produced between about 2000 and 400 bc and that this entire Mesoamerican body of work was finished by around 1500ad.
One wonders what Picasso would have produced, if instead of African art, he had been inspired by the amazing art of Mesoamerica. As I paint, using these inspirations, I allow myself complete artistic license. In the past, I have rarely used “mixed media” but the wide variety of ceramic, sculptural and temple wall textures has spurred me to “glob on” the acrylic, gold leaf, molding paste, metallics, sand and stones. Since many of the Mesoamerican pieces have long been devoid of their original color, I allowed myself complete freedom to experiment and play. Although I have barely changed some of the strongest designs, with others I just let my mind and soul process the inspiration, mix in my fantasy, and let the mixture work its spell.
Several times, I have said “enough”. But, each time I review my notes, photos and sketches, I find myself reaching for another canvas. What a rich ancient art history and tradition mexico has, and I feel so fortunate to have been snared by its magic!
