Abstract painting requires a huge amount of faith in oneself. The process is mysterious and almost impossible to teach, as each artist needs to find his/her own way. If one can approach each painting having the love and trust that things will be all right, that an image will come eventually, we will make the mistakes and take the risks needed in order to make something great.
Suzanne Laura Kammin, “In Transit.” Oil on panel, 16 x 16 in. 2013.
© Suzanne Laura Kammin. Courtesy of the artist.
I first came across Suzanne Kammin’s paintings through Phillip J. Mellen’s wonderful interview site, Ahtcast. Frankly, and as should be the case, the six paintings Suzanne had posted to the site got me from the get-go, the way she balances a reductive, purely formal language with painterly incident and a concern for surface. But there was also Suzanne’s focus on process. “I don’t want to work it all out, beforehand,” Suzanne says in her conversation with Phillip. “There’s no point, because you lose some of the magic of making the marks spontaneously–or what just happens along the way of making a painting.”
Here’s Suzanne, a few weeks back in email.
My painting process requires intuition. Just like in life, the magic comes from letting go and allowing process to take over. For me, planning ahead destroys the spontaneity needed to create the magical moments that are always the best parts of a painting. There is a strong desire to control our work from the outset. It’s as if we never made wonderful paintings before and as if we have lost our confidence–that we have no faith. Abstract painting requires a huge amount of faith in oneself. The process is mysterious and almost impossible to teach, as each artist needs to find his/her own way. If one can approach each painting having the love and trust that things will be all right, that an image will come eventually, we will make the mistakes and take the risks needed in order to make something great. Through an open mind and complete trust in our process, and ourselves we can channel the infinite and make contact with greatness.
...You forgot to enter postid in the gallery shortcode...Images © + courtesy Suzanne Laura Kammin.
Suzanne Laura Kammin‘s current exhibition, Greater and Lesser Vehicles is now on view at The Painting Center. (547 West 27th Street; thru 2/22.)
Editor’s Recs:
Listen to Suzanne Laura Kammin on Studio Break
Suzanne Laura Kammin on Ahtcast
Subscribe to Tilted Arc
If you like this story, please consider subscribing. We are sticklers for privacy.
We will never sell or share your e-mail address.
-
Jen Mazza: \ /\/\/\/\/\ /\\\\\\\\\///////////\ A Painting Is A Machine
I like a painting that does something, like a machine does something: you turn it on and it functions “Since Courbet, it’s been believed that painting is addressed to the retina.…The retinal shudder!” — Marcel Duchamp1 shudder // shutter The click of the shutter, the click of the cliché, but lets come back to that […]
-
In Conversation: Gary Green with Ben Lisle
If we can see the grace in quotidian landscapes and our everyday routines then perhaps we can begin to make better choices. Gary Green, Elm City, 2015. All images: © & courtesy the artist. BEN LISLEOne of the things that strikes me first when looking at these photos is this tension between a thoroughly human […]
-
Engagement, baby’s mittens Engagement, baby’s mittens, ocean floor, Palermo rose, Lake Tahoe, timid white, Iguana green, blue echo, sycamore, Unspoken love, dark lilac, nighty night. Tomato tango, tint of mint, rustique, Petunia, modern romance, wild mush- Room, vintage claret, Celtic folklore, week- End get-away, alfresco, royal flush. Plum martini, Oklahoma wheat; Confetti, evening skyline, sun-kissed […]