ISOM SYMBOLIC ART

Monday, January 24, 2022

Asemic art

My work is a hybrid of asemic writing. The word asemic means "having no specific semantic content”.Traditional asemic writing does not use real words or phrases. An asemic text may be "read" in a similar fashion regardless of the reader's natural language. My work sometime include words but the meaning is left for the reader to fill in and interpret. In addition to words I use pictograms, ideograms, glyphs and symbols. The works are meant to be read as a story much like a medieval rebus. I also make use of the unconscious by spontaneously drawing with ink with no pre planning. My work is influenced by esoteric codices such as the Mayan Codex and the writings of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. I also have an interest in scriptorium the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts by monastic scribes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asemic_writing

http://asemic.net

http://www.asymptotejournal.com/visual/michael-jacobson-on-asemic-writing/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scriptorium

Saturday, January 22, 2022

The horror of horror vacui.

Literally translated, Horror Vacui is the fear of empty spaces. In a more technical sense, it refers to a maximalist aesthetic in visual art in which details proliferate to fill every square inch of blank canvas. This aesthetic is associated with many different periods and places, including Islamic art and the medieval manuscripts illuminated by monks.

Detail of painted/drawn chair.

From the archives. Still life just like real life. Circa 1970.

Friday, January 21, 2022

From the Brad Wisenstein collection

Watercolor and India ink. Circa 1990

Airbrush on wood collage. Circa 1990

India ink on paper. Circa 1990

Thursday, January 20, 2022

At ubi materia, ibi Geometria.

“Where there is matter, there is geometry.” Johannes Kepler

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Acrylic marker drawings.

Acrylic markers on black canvas paper 9" X 12"

Isom symbolic Poetry

Journey

Mind is ever haunted

Time is always doubt

Purpose of my journey

Old age is now sight

Death is always near

Man in pain

Curious man and a broken watch

Time without need or relevance

Sight

Looking at stars

Eyes wide open

No rays in sight

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Art teaching philosophy

Recently, I have been posting about my art teaching philosophy and experience as an art educator. I am very happy that the posts have generated some interest. I have always considered myself an art educator and not an artist. Simply, I am someone who makes art. Making art is not a difficult activity and does not require special training. Art teaching is about setting a condition for art to happen. As parents we buy crayons, paints, an all sorts of craft items. Children participate in countless poster and drawing contests. This burst of art suddenly starts to subside about the sixth grade and fades away for most students. This is the point at which the art baton is handed to the art instructor. Unfortunately, there is often no art teacher to assume the art leadership role. Many parents do continue to provide a creative outlet separate and apart from the school system.

Monday, January 17, 2022

Natural world

The primary influence on my work is the natural world, from the expanse of space to the microscopic view of structures. I am not interested in reproducing what I see. Instead I am seeking a way to go beyond the world of nature and into the place between what we can see and what we cannot.

My interest, at either end of this spectrum of this reality, continues to feed my imagination.

Dans l'air fermée...and innocent parody.

Plein air painting seems to be the “ art du jour”. Plein air is a term derived from the French phrase en plein air, which literally means 'in the open air'. It's a familiar concept today, but in the late 1800s when the impressionists ventured out of their studios into nature to investigate and capture the effects of sunlight and different times of days on a subject, it was quite revolutionary. However, it is not quite so revolutionary today.

My art is called “studio art” which is art produce in a studio setting. Studio art is not revolutionary today and it is a quaint reminder of an artist in his cluttered studio, lined with plaster busts and manikin models to help him in his academic studies.

I decided to describe my work as Dans l'air fermée. Dans l'air fermée is a French expression which means "in the closed air" and it is used to describe the act of painting/ drawing indoors. which is also called La peinture avec l'esprit ("painting with the mind” or what the minds’s eye actually sees”) This type of art, generally does not require a classical studio, photographs, copy devises etc. All you need is a computer, a few sharpies and the desire to draw objects, symbols and images from the subconscious mind.