"Paintings After Algebra" Exhibition of oil paintings by Neil A. Collins.
All work was produced between May 2013 and August 2013
Open Reception at Shane House. Friday, Aug. 16th, 2013
Math was never a subject I was interested in as a youth and I actually despised it as a child in school. I began creating art seriously when I was a teenager and began painting professionally, although I am self taught.
In the fall of 2011, I enrolled in Pima Community College, in "pre-algebra" an order to see what I had missed out on and also an order to answer some questions I had about the exponential growth of technology. I have since taken a math class each semester and finally satisfied my curiosity, this spring having taken 4 math classes over the past few years. It is a serious accomplishment for me, although it may not seem important to anyone else.
After this last spring semester, I came out of the math with a serious urge to create art. I feel that the work has a new life in it. It is also clear to me that the math has allowed me to return to my art with new unexpected skills. These skills are both technical and conceptual.
Math and especially algebra is all about seeing abstract relationships between things an order to work out solutions that might not be found if the problem were attacked directly. This could also be used as a way to describe art.
The "problem" in art, can be seen as the attempt to communicate feelings and thoughts that might be lost if they were simply described using words. Instead, colors, shapes, textures and symbols are used to solve the problem of communication.
I am also interested in basic questions such as "What is the purpose of art?" my own conclusions about this have to do with a process of feedback. I feel that it is the job of the artist to take in information (learn or experience), to then process that input (think, wonder, dream, compare, contemplate) and then to output the result (communication, creation, expression, meme-spreading). This cycle of feedback is an important aspect of my art.
I also like the unpredictable nature of the work. Many times someone will see something completely different in one of my paintings than what I meant to say. This is wonderful Everyone should have their own experience and hopefully talking to me doesn't ruin it for them. All of these painting were created in the past 2 or 3 months, during this summer.
My work is all for sale and I also offer "THE EASY PAYMENT PLAN".
Enjoy!
I like it. Very clear and well written. I especially identify with what you say about feedback. As a performer, I rarely have felt this loop. Sometimes after a stage performance, but often I was not open to it. So I think the other night performing living statues was the first time I realized how important it was and opened up to it and thus perhaps had the best experience I've ever had performing.
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