| Carla Knopp |
| I sometimes use a subjective theme to guide my paintings. It acts as a framework within which I can go anywhere; it both forms and fuels my painted explorations. The following three groups of work each use subject matter this way. The "Mount" series initially read as a quirky group of ridiculous structures. The images suggest an archeological mystery. These are earthworks, of unknown purpose and origin, but they indicate some type of sentient presence (past or present). At one point I thought of these monuments as rather poignant memorials. I am "building" these structures in paint, an act which mirrors their implied existence. Metaphorical reality and physical reality coincide. The "Love Hovels" motif is an odd and creepy concept which directs one's imagination in interesting directions. These are the constructions, arrangements, and debris of human activity. The theme hints of independence and insularity, and of clannish ritual. In these paintings, I imagine confusion between public and private awareness, and an inside-out, us-and-them fluctuation in viewpoint. I imagine chaotic snippets of unknowable lives. I use the "Minor Deities" theme primarily for composition. I think of the central "deity" shape as any type of object, or being, or even occurrence. I let it be all these things at once. From this mental position, I paint using the very simple layout of a central figure on a ground, which may or may not have an up-down gravitational orientation (they usually do). These paintings can go anywhere, and tend to become abstractions, with the parallel suggestion of a subject. I'll call this fourth group of work "Intuitive Diggings". Here the process is not directed or propelled by a predetermined theme. The only framework is the very general act of making art by painting. The process is usually one of blind experimentation, guided by of-the-moment reactions and decisions. Themes and formal ideas will arise and influence the work, and may even form impromptu frameworks of containment, but the overriding experience is one of groping about. This can yield surprising finds. |
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