Master of Fine Arts Thesis
Studio Zen: Non-Representational Painting and Meditation
Mike Sutton
Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirement for the degree of Master of Fine Arts, School of Art and Design
Alfred-Dusseldorf Painting
New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University Alfred, New York
2021
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Glenn Michael Sutton, MFA
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Prof. Kevin Wixted, Thesis Advisor
(Abstract)
Non-representational painting takes its cues and draws inspiration from the ephemeral and spiritual realms. And while this is essentially true, the physical world exists all around us. Its influences are relentless. Both the spiritual and ephemeral planes exist outside our time space continuum, independent of the physical laws that govern everything we see, hear, taste, smell or touch. They operate within a principle that while includes the material world, transcends value structures commonly used to determine worth in that world. Spirituality gives value to the idea of human divineness and ephemerality situates creativity within a moment that is fleeting. Where these two invisible forces cross is where I find not only compromise between the spiritual and material planes but also a balance and harmony that manifests and reveals itself in these eleven nonrepresentational paintings.
The paintings provide for the viewer an opportunity step outside of their visual, conceptual and theoretical interpretations of subject matter common to our external world. I purposefully provide the viewer with an alternative view of the landscape, sky, tree, and rock. It’s an invitation by me, asking the viewer to look at a painting whose genesis or point of creation lacks a dependence on external stimulus only, including any notions of a preconceived idea. These works have essentially written their own formal painting dialog into existence. Materiality, and the idea of the relationship between forms on a plane is essential in my work. The dialog that I have with my paintings is constantly developing as the work matures. Both the painting and I strive towards a harmony and balanced composition. The direction of the work is predicated on chance
which allows for and demands at times extensive exploration. Both the aesthetics and the story of the painting’s creation are biproducts of the paintings making.
“The tendency of a work of art may be very simple, but provided it is not dictated by any external motive and provided it is not working to any material end, the harmony will be pure.”
Wassily Kandinsky1
(Thesis)
We will examine in this survey nonrepresentational paintings that uses a formalist approach to the art of Painting. Formalism addresses through visual analysis. The artist is perpetually looking at and formulating strategies to best arrange forms, colors, lines and textures on a plane that seeks visual harmony. What that means is Formalism avoids the idea of content or is not informed at all by political, social, or even historical events. Its genesis is materials and the application of those materials on a plane. At the core of Formalism’s philosophy thrives the understanding that all elements necessary to comprehending a painting exist within that painting.
The work will also be indirectly representative of and promoting the philosophy of Buddhism which embraces both meditation and introspection. I suggest in these writings that for one to understand the various processes associated with abstract art, and to better understand the importance of the dialog that evolves around the making and history of a non-objective painting, is to better understand the genesis of abstract art. My goal in writing this thesis is to help better define for both myself and the person reading it
1 Kandinsky, “Concerning the Spiritual in Art,” 50.
the internal dialogs unique to the process and making of a nonrepresentational painting. A painting that is elusive and whose genesis involves the creation of the map towards its own destination.
(Processing) Studio as a state of Mind
When a nonrepresentational painter decides to work from a point that has no
preconceived idea that artist is inviting and depending on both the surface and the materials to collaborate with them in the making of the painting. Composition is paramount in
nonrepresentational painting because of its reliance on formal elements i.e., form, color, line, tone, and texture that the artist uses in an attempt to accurately express their feelings. A nonrepresentational painting like a piece of music is an arrangement of movements whose common goal is to work in collaboration with each other on a plane or surface toward the harmonious completion of a successful composition. Notes and tones become gestures and rests and pauses, moments of introspection and contemplation for the painter. The painting becomes the artists condensed visual storyboard ultimately and is representative of their soul, feelings, thoughts, and insights.
As stated earlier in my survey, the spiritual and ephemeral realms while including the physical plane, transcend that world and its dependence on the five sense. These two abstract entities rely exclusively on the “sixth sense” which negates the conventional definition of our reality and realizes the significance of a perpetually changing perception, that propagates creativity at its genesis, in the here and now. This is the mode of operation I seek in the studio through the use of meditation. Both realms work conceptually for me throughout my painting
process to substantiate visually nonrepresentational paintings created without any notion of their eventual completion. A definition of Sixth sense is, “having a special ability to know something that cannot be learned by using the five senses (such as sight or hearing).” The definition also cites intuitiveness as being a tool used by one working outside of our known realm of
consciousness to create. Intuitiveness while being a sign of intelligence is not included as a principle or attribute to the modern definition of intelligence. Intelligence is defined as, “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.”
Buddhism recognizes and calls an un-assuming mind a “beginners mind”. This term was originally included in the title of the 1970 book “Zen Mind, Beginners Mind”, written by the late Shunryu Suzuki, and is by no means suggesting that a beginner’s mind is either naïve or
immature.2 Within the context of meditation, it is a state of mind that promotes open mindedness and a willingness to learn. This practice of introspection avoids attaching itself to any idea or ideas. Meditation rather allows for thoughts and feelings to flow while being observed and felt by the artist. I find this time of introspection and examination freeing because it allows me a breath of clarity. A clarity that includes the ability to objectively sort through subject matter in my mind. Not so much as a process of elimination regarding information, but as a way to allow the energy to flow positively without making judgments. A way to observe without becoming emotionally attached. This method allows me the ability to navigate the innate subjectivity and emotions that are being generated in the studio. It is essential in my work that I avoid a “know it all” attitude because this type of energy promotes both a confrontational and combative nature which is not conducive to the harmony and balanced atmosphere pursued in my practice. The
2 Suzuki, “Zen Mind, Beginners Mind”.
studio is a sacred space and the artist a divine being. The studio is both a place and a state of mind.
The Spirituality of Materiality in Nonrepresentational Painting:
(Painting the invisible Painting.) “Painting is the making of an analogy for something non-visual and incomprehensible – giving it form and bringing it within reach. And that is why good paintings are
incomprehensible. Creating the incomprehensible has absolutely nothing to do with turning out any old bunkum, because bunkum is always comprehensible.” Gerhard Richter 3
The term “Materiality” within the context of art refers to both the actual physical materials used in the making of a piece of art i.e., paint, brush, and in the broader scope of its definition, reveals the story or ontology of the inception and existence of the work forever. The work of art remains organic and morphs according to its relevance to formal and ideological constructs throughout history. It influences individuals, societies and cultures with varying degrees, throughout the artwork’s physical life and beyond. How a painting is clearly interpreted, understood and felt by the viewer defines in contemporary terms what “Materiality” is.
With this in mind and using both meditation and a formalist approach I choose to use form, line, color and texture to help develop a visual language for me that I could use in the studio throughout the making process of these paintings. A visual vernacular if you will, specifically used to engage with these 11works. My hope would be that that dialog would develop into an open conversation regarding material as a concept and hopefully help facilitate conversations post studio, regarding posterity within the context of materiality. The depth and
3 Richter, “Writings, Interviews, and Letters,” 120.
width of the language develops, as the dialog between the painting and I mature. The essence of the conversation revolves around decisions regarding formal elements and their relationship on the plane to one another. I felt that invariably for the formal elements of these paintings to work in harmony, they had to communicate to the viewer visually and subjectively some of the
journey that those formal elements and I had collaborated on and experienced. My palette while not limited is minimal and familiar in these works. I wanted the viewer to feel as if they, had a say in the decision-making process. “Painting the invisible painting means I’m painting a painting that is painting itself. I’m giving to the work its own conscious and adding to the process an element of chance. This is a way for me to intentionally remove my hand in a
metaphorical sense from the work itself, creating an ephemeral and spiritual vacuum that attracts other unforeseen forces to assist in the paintings making. In this way I become humbled and also open to what my work is saying to me. I’m not dictating I’m collaborating.
The paintings are referred to as planes with the addition of Roman numbers I-XI.
Respectfully I will refer to the works individually in my writings as planes followed by the correlated digit. Each painting has a soul and story given to it by its making. This is everything it will ever be outside of its theoretical, conceptual and subjective conversations.
Within the vastness of Northern New Mexico’s horizon, landscape, sky, geology, and topography collide in dramatic fashion the colors that are representative of no other place on earth. I use that palette liberally in these paintings. These colors are the physical representation of the soul that weaves itself through the plane of that section of Earth. The common fiber that binds while physical within the context of all the aspects mentioned above, remains invisible
throughout all time. That fiber is made of the fleeting creative moment embraced by the spirit and unavoidably used by the artist.
While researching and looking for a direction for these paintings I found myself in the Scottish countryside via the internet looking at and reading about manmade stacks of rocks made during the Neolithic Period or Stone Age. These dry stacks of rocks are referred to as Cairns.
Cairns were used as memorials, or headstones, as well as landmarks for travelers, and even large burial sites. I was drawn to these stones primarily because of the individual physical
characteristics that each stone possessed. The one visual appeal to me about these structures was the aesthetic array created by the staggering of the stones from row to row. I had to wonder if the worker stacking the individual rocks had thought about the variety of stones available to them and in an effort to be artistic made chooses according to both the stones own physical features, i.e., shape, colors and textures, as well regarding how that stone might visually impact or relate to those stones next to or around it. We can only speculate about the answer to that question. In my opinion, yes!
In these painting’s perspective and movement work in collaboration to catalysis the colors, forms, textures and lines used to connect and/or free the plane from its static position. In essence this means that in preparation for painting I posit myself within a state of mind that avoids clinging to thoughts so that those two dynamics are free to operate. I inwardly become both viewer and viewed. Subject and object intermingle becoming one another. This collective state of mind frees the energy both in me and the whole space of the studio. Form. Color, line, and texture are now free from the definitions that confine them to the material world and operate free from content or context. This means that those formal elements become abstract entities
whose significance depends entirely on how well they work harmoniously on the plane along with other material elements, both physical, spiritual, and theoretical.
The Inside and Outside of a nonrepresentational painting.
“When I think of art I think of Beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection.” Agnus Martin4
These paintings as seen now, seek to reveal themselves not only as static visual stimuli for the viewer, but they also desire to expose their own nakedness and vulnerability. I see this in them and I’m confidant of that assessment, because they are me. They are me now, but not like they were me, in the studio. The paintings hadn’t fully developed within their collective physical existence yet. For that to happen the work needed a vessel that would transport these visual messages from the spiritual realm into they’re current physical state of artistic expression. That vessel was made up of Spirit, Materiality, and a state of mind.
Plane I began its journey by appearing in my mind’s eye as an ambiguous form unrelated to any subject matter or preconceived idea. I drew this form on the canvas in one movement with my shoulder, arm and hand. I didn’t want that movement to have any hesitations or pauses. I was referencing the idea of creation and how pause had no place in that moment.
This method is used systematically throughout this body of work at each painting’s inception.
Note: (I used a projector as a means to accurately project an image I had drawn onto the canvas surface of Plane XI. The energy of that pause-less movement when the pencil moved across
4 Martin, “Beauty is the Mystery of Life”.
Plane I’s surface making marks echoed throughout all time in its very own unique existence encompassed by the ephemeral moment. The form true to itself on the surface is acting as a portal and is a constant and pure visual reminder to both the artist and viewer of the painting’s inception. I used that form or point of reference as a catalyst and focal point throughout the painting’s process.
These initial movements can and do morph and even disappear as materiality becomes more relevant to the making process. This means that both ideas and theories shift and move according to what the surface reveals to me through process. Decisions are imminent and as a result the energy levels fluctuate. During this period of introspection, a cross over occurs for me and reflections of both memories and feelings begin to materialize in my mind’s eye.
In the painting Plane I. I wanted to preserve the larger original form in the center. As pointed out earlier in my research some months back I discovered hand stacked rocks. These Neolithic sculptures referred to as Cairn’s have a rich history in Scotland and dot the Scottish countryside in various forms i.e., landmarks, headstones, as well as large Neolithic Chambered burial sites. Attempting to establish both an aesthetic element and a structure to the painting I drew an array of forms similar in looks to roof shingles in a darting fashion, reducing the forms in size as they drew closer to the larger center form itself. While not at all similar to the more rounded and smooth surfaces found on forms depicted on other paintings, like Plane II and Plane V as well as Plane VI, both the visual array and the repetition it creates work in the same way to unite the overall composition, despite the shape of the form. Forms create other forms. The negative space between the original forms inadvertently becomes other forms, and in both a figurative and literal sense a whole other painting appears.
It’s a perfect example of the spirituality of materiality. Or bringing attention to the incomprehensible. I consider the negative space free form. Which means form that is created out of the application of forms more intentionally applied to the surface with materials. Negative space informs my work in a tremendous way both as a material and as a direction. That anomaly worked as I observed it, to shift the direction of Plane I. This whole process above is the
common thread throughout my thesis work. I incorporate contemplation of the negative space into my meditation throughout the making process of all eleven paintings.
In Plane II, IV and VI the majority of forms are making contact with each other and the surface avoids making any reference to the negative space in those areas. I attempted to
demonstrated balance by the way the forms are laid out. I incorporate the foreground, mid- ground and background arrangements like found in a classic landscape painting. I sliced across the 3ftx6ft surface in three separate movements that worked as the foundation for the arrays of stone form’s making the walls. The initial movement which attaches itself in a vertical manner on the left-hand side of the entirety of the painting works as a focal point. Similar to how the form in the center of Plane I worked to infuse the painting with balance. I coupled those three individual planes in the painting with the use of the vanishing point. That helped to extenuate the arrayed colors and forms, from a larger to smaller size establishing and giving character to each stone no matter the size, through all three grounds, foreground, midground, and background. A certain visual sensitivity exposes itself as I put the forms together. They appear to be happy that they are united. These nuances of subjectivity and vulnerability make their way through the paintings surfaces as ghost. Seen but not completely. This worked well in Plane I to help substantiate both depth and a sense of vastness like in Plane II. Vastness in Northern New Mexico is plentiful.
Harmony and balance coexist with chaos and imbalance throughout all these works. I’ve used both additive and subtractive methods of creation in these paintings. For example, by adding the smaller forms to the plane and butting them against the larger shape in the center the whole surface was united and set free from its ambiguous and static position of singular.
Covering the remainder of the surface with an array of forms shifted the energy in Plane I. The painting to me revealed a “god’s eye view” as if looking down into the form and/or forms at that point. A shift in perception materialized and the relation between the forms, lines, tones and colors created an atmosphere that spoke to me. The painting began to make more sense to me in terms of how the work was presenting itself overall and in the moment. While the formalist approach is big on composition, meditation and the spiritual realm situates the paintings firmly within the primary element of chance. This dynamic of chance, like impermanence throughout our time space continuum allows for things to happen spontaneously and supports a more synchronic dialog that is not related to history, but to the time at hand.
I attempted to substantiate the presents of fluidity in all these works. The reference is making notice of the importance of water itself. This is an element that I use and have used as a common visual motif in many of my paintings for a long time. In Plane I, the color blue is applied thickly and then rubbed vigorously to reveal light and texture. It’s a color commonly used to reference water visually in various shades and I struggled with the decision whether to make that background area another color or colors to avoid being too literal. In
nonrepresentational painting the process driven artist is never satisfied totally. To substantiate even further a ground of fluidity I installed toward the outer parameter of the surface a blue line broken only by the multiple forms called “singles” butting together. The move attempts to verify the blue’s existence throughout the entire sub-surface.
The color chooses for Plane I are emblematic of the landscape of where I live and are a combination of both mixed and out of the tube paints. In this work I have purposefully, slowly and methodically changed my color palette. The viewer can make that distinction when
comparing Plane II and Plane IV with Plane IX and X.
In Plane I the viewer can see my attempt to shift palettes in the 7 forms situated on top of the blue in the center of the canvas. I characterized each form by a specific mixed color. I
modeled that color into what I thought were unidentifiable features. It was difficult for me not to want to identify those stones as I call them with a subject matter that seemed more familiar to me, like a face. It brought up issues around identity regarding self (me), as opposed to how I might identify with others. I almost made the forms solid colors. But I felt that for me to cover them opaquely directly reference my own inability to be transparent. Looking closely the viewer can see brush strokes liberally applied to each of the smaller forms. I decided to leave traces of the artist hand in those marks. The surface or ground, the mid-section of the 7 forms, as well as the foreground are painted differently. Although, not making the decision early on in the paintings making to switch strokes between layers, the move at the time seemed relevant to everything else I was seeing and experiencing subjectively.
We see here again how materiality takes on an even greater role, as it relates sometimes less to the actual physical materials and more to the movements, timing and subjectivity of the artist in collaboration with the painting. How those three dynamics work together existentially determines the harmony and balance of my visual analogy of the unseen in these eleven paintings. That which exists only in my mind and spirit projected out.
Bibliography
Kandinsky, Wassily. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. London: Dover Publications, Inc, 1977.
Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. United States: Shambhala Publications.
1970.
Richter, Gerhard. Writings, Interviews, and Letters. United States: Thames & Hudson Publications. 2009.
Morris, Frances, Bell, Tiffany. Agnus Martin. United States: Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. 2015.
(Acknowledgeements)
Imogene Wiltsey (Mother): Love, respect, Kindness, and Empathy. These are the
qualities of being human my Mom teaches to me. She teaches them by example. My Mom is 95 and still drives her Jeep. Thank you, Mom!
Karen Sexton (Friend/Artist): The last twelve years have revealed so much about who I’m and am not. You have been a needed and constant companion despite everything. You have given me shelter, and you have fed me. But most of all you have loved and cared for me. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
Linda Swanson (Friend/Artist): Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to attend Santa Fe University of Art and Design. You like so many see in me things I don’t. I so need friends like you in my life. Thank you for being you! My dear friend.
Kevin Wixted (Friend): Thank you for working tirelessly to get the Alfred University Dusseldorf M.F.A. Painting program up and running. Thank you for allowing me this once in a lifetime opportunity. It has been an honor.
Honorable Mention (Family): Sarah Marie Sutton (Daughter), Joel Michael Sutton (Son), Lillian Jean Surratt (Granddaughter), Adam Hall (Nephew), Carolyn Jean Rooney (Friend).
Thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of my heart for all of your spiritual, mental, and physical support. I could have never accomplished the last 8 years without you.
