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| Nickell-Art

Nickell-Art ♂️ [13313586] [2010-03-18 15:04:15 +0000 UTC] "Burning from the Inside" (United States)

# Statistics

Favourites: 19; Deviations: 11; Watchers: 3

Watching: 4; Pageviews: 1978; Comments Made: 11; Friends: 4

# Interests

Favorite visual artist: Roberto Matta
Favorite movies: Twilight of the Cockroaches
Favorite bands / musical artists: Radiohead, Dirty Projectors, Cake, Beck, Deerhoof, etc.
Favorite writers: William Blake
Tools of the Trade: chalk, crayons, and fingers
Other Interests: Art, music, nature, philosophy

# About me

Artist's Statement: After several years of experimenting with digital media, the inherent paradoxes of the media finally overcame me. The limitless control and endless possibilities encouraged my working style to become too deliberate, too intellectual, too ego controlled. It just wasn't fun anymore. When I visited the great museums and saw the works of the modern masters, their work seemed to exude a presence, probably stemming from the fact that they actually touched it, sat in a room with it, interacted with it. Their essence seemed to be infused in the work in a way that no computer program could reproduce, no matter how creatively or expressively used. I needed a new direction, I would end up with 180 degrees of new direction.

While observing my young daughter playfully drawing, I was struck by the joyful abandon with which she worked. More often than not, her work even possessed a balanced composition despite her total lack of formal knowledge. It was then that the life changing epiphany struck - Rational thinking and formal artistic knowledge were creativity dampeners, ever removing the artist and the act of creation from it's primal source. Only through bypassing the imposed constrictions of egoic thought and formalities through childlike abandon without concern for outcome, could the truest, purest creative force be invoked and channeled through artistic expression. With that revelation in mind, I began to work simply and directly, side by side on the floor with my young daughter sharing a box of oil crayons. That was when I really found myself.

My new body of work isn't about representing objects or even the lofty intellectual concepts of my digital work - it is about allowing the purest creative energy to pass through me with as little interference on my part as possible. The pure expression of unconscious and even cosmic forces that guide and influence us all. I don't sit down and try to deliberately create anything at all, it's more like I am channeling the work - not doing, but allowing it to happen through me. I work by smearing the materials with just my fingers almost entirely. I create a giant mess with joyful abandon. Then I layer more accidental chaos on top of that and continue until all of the sudden 'pop', from the chaos suddenly springs a viable composition. It usually takes a form that I never could have even imagined if I had tried. No two of them are alike at the most fundamental level, as the process of creating is reinvented each time I work.

deviantWEAR sizing preference: medium
Favourite genre of music: Alt rock - Prog rock - Folk rock
Favourite style of art: Abstract Expressionism
MP3 player of choice: iTunes
Skin of choice: Purple
Personal Quote: I think...well you know...crap!

# Comments

Comments: 6

Stepbeyond [2010-05-18 03:29:43 +0000 UTC]

thanks for adding my work to your favs, appreciated

I agree. A computer will never replace traditional painting. I also still love film versus digital.
I met a landscape photographer about a year ago. His pieces were absolutely stunning--he wouldn't even talk about digital camera's lol

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ayla-es [2010-04-26 21:50:56 +0000 UTC]

thank you

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fdoussaud [2010-04-14 05:25:46 +0000 UTC]

ha, someone else interested by abstract expressionism !
cheers for the fav

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magnifEyes [2010-03-18 16:25:51 +0000 UTC]

Great Art u make,
very mysterious
& contemplative.

Drop by my corner it
might interest you.

Welcome to dA

Wish you a
creative weekend
/M:.

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Nickell-Art In reply to magnifEyes [2010-03-18 16:31:26 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for looking and appreciating. I'll definitely visit your page.

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magnifEyes In reply to Nickell-Art [2010-03-18 21:45:58 +0000 UTC]

cheers

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