Barbara Mink

So nice to see large Event Horizons canvases up on white walls with good lighting at State of the Art. Wonderful opening, thoughtful review of show by Arthur Whitman http://thethinkingi.blogspot.com/2009/11/mink.html. I don't agree with his take on the large 'You Can't Win" canvases; for me the carving out of negative space was an integral part of the process, not a mistake. But he was right about the "lightness" of Hubble's Bubbles. Overall, it's rare to have thoughtful and comprehensive "readers", and a review becomes like a conversation. It's funny how once an approach has run its course, new directions open up. Current work much flatter, more free, while maintaining some of the pouring approaches of before. I don't think I could ever be like those painters who find one style that's commercially successful and stick with it for the rest of their lives; experimentation and growth is what makes this fun.

Had a wonderful time with Frank Moon at the Science Cabaret this month talking about science in art. I looked at my attempt to frame my work with some concepts from physics and math; Frank talked about his early attempts to translate aspects of chaos theory into wooden sculpture. Seems to me that scientists and artists share one thing; a search for "beauty", whatever that means. I don't mean prettiness; I mean an intuitive sense of when something is balanced, harmonious, fulfills the expectation. My first solo show in Ithaca, featuring these paintings, opens November 6 at State of the Art Gallery from 5-8, with electronica by Laika.

I find myself at an interesting juncture in my painting, the bottom of a trajectory that has taken me through a concentrated attempt to meld science and art; I've come out on the side of painting for painting's sake, with a very light touch when it comes to titles. I had reframed my large-scale abstracts in the context of physics and math; painted first, then finding the scientific corollary afterwards. I purposely chose more abstract concepts from the hard sciences rather than the more obvious biological or geologic contexts, which would seem to fit my organic style. I think it worked; but by drawing such specific ties, it raises false expectations; that the paintings are translations of the science, which they are not. Taking a lighter approach works better I think. The new body of work is called Event Horizons, and I now have a book of photos available from my website or from Blurb.com.

Haven't written for a while; but recent family tragedies and the normal difficulties of life have reminded me of the importance of living in the present, and the joy in being able to pour oneself into the act of creation. I found after September 11 that I tried to literally put my feelings into a painting; the result was banal. More helpful, I think, is to work with the medium than impose an emotion on it. My recent body of work that plays with scientific concepts is often dark, but I don't think depressing.