| The Language of Abstraction
Diane Ayott
Painting is central to my life. For as long as I can
remember, I have been a mark maker. Images have
always fascinated me. What are we looking at and what do we see? Are we seeing
what others see? I am driven to make what we call art.
My paintings are developed over time and are informed by years
of particular attention to the landscape and the discipline of
the visual arts. My paintings
are formal. The images created exist easily within the language of contemporary
abstraction. I am an artist who believes in the tra-dition of abstract painting:
in my world, abstract painting
is alive and well. My paintings could also be called post-minimalist but
these labels, like all labels, are merely guide posts to help classify
types of work
and to aid our understanding.
My work involves making judgements about the relationship of
qualities. It is an intuitive effort informed by years of study.
The lines of distinction
between my artist life and my personal life have disappeared. The personal
and the pictoral are married.
These recent works are quite traditional, showing a commitment
to the rectangle and use of a variety of drawing and painting materials.
These include:
canvas, paper, acrylic and latex house paint, oil paints, oil sticks,
graphite powder,
marble dust, and an assortment of dryers and mediums. Tools include:
pencils, erasers, brushes, scrapers, rags, Q-tips, rollers, and
knives. The surface
preparation
is carefully planned and executed. Usually, I make some sort of underlying
structural drawing. Very often, it is in
the form of a grid or simple vertical planes. Sometimes, remnants of
this structure are maintained throughout the painting process while at
other
times the initial
drawing
becomes totally covered, making its structure invisible.
The process of painting is a fascinating one to me. I
never know where I will go with it. Changes take place
and a complex web of relationships are built. I take my
cues from the painting as it develops. In a very real sense,
painting is a dialogue or a kind of dance. My paintings
address issues of perceptual focus, spatial awareness, and states of
being. The viewer is invited to make his or her
own associative connections and, I hope, find pleasure
in the visual.
Diane Ayott has exhibited extensively in the
New England area and abroad. Her work is
represented in anumber of private collections
and is represented locally by the Gallery of
Modern Art in Marblehead. She has taught at Salem State College,
Massachusetts College of Art, and Montserrat College of Art. Diane’s
home and studio are on Boston’s North Shore. She holds a
B.A. in humanities from New
England College, an M.F.A. in painting and
an M.S. in art education from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.
View more of Diane Ayott's work |
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