Talking about parallels between painting and music, I recently told a jazz musician friend that painting is a series of mistakes.
“That’s funny,” he responded, “because we say jazz is a series of miraculous recoveries.”
Throughout the years, I have come to believe that there is no such thing as accident in art. A splash, a drip, a wrong move of the arm, a smear, an unintended use of a certain color: all these are part of the creative process. My unconscious might put a line where it does not belong, or drip some paint where it’s not supposed to be, but I hardly ever get upset, because the process of partly or wholly erasing it, or painting over it gives a certain new dimension to the work.
In painting, what’s not there is almost as important as what’s there.
Painting is a spontaneous, immediate process and the painter can not wait for the best paints, canvases, brushes or the right space in order to create.
When I work, I work with my entire body, with a fervor that is bound to make a mess or cause “accidents”.
This is why eliminating fear is the first step towards self-liberation and creative breakthroughs.
