i started painting when i was 14 and continued until i was 21. my approach to the medium alternated between furrow-browed intensity and casual play. i was a severe young person.
i developed a crisis of meaning related to how communicative or important i imagined those canvases could be (not very). then there was the issue of fitting a post-studio lifestyle in with egg tempera and yards of rough fabrics. painting was closed-in and locked down. the surrounding discourse didn't help: it seemed obsessed with material and structure to the point of being autistic, but also over-invested in a trivial history of the medium. or perhaps it was the other way around, that i was not successful in making myself care.
at 22 i began the flight to other mediums, nations and realms online. this was a fruitful escape. i did not return to the easel. however, a certain way of seeing persisted. looking for light and contour, often over content. i began to draft more seriously in photoshop.
nu painting is a game. a blank 40cmx60cm 300 dpi .psd file is a level terrain. layers are added and blank spots are filled with textures, 3d objects, faux-3d effects, simulated bruhsstrokes, colors and formless forms. the resulting file is stashed in a folder until a print has been ordered (chromaluxe or dye-sublimation). when the order has been placed the file is deleted.
the original file is sacrificed in order to create value. the printed matter now has a chance of attaining the status of a unique art object. nu painting becomes an old medium.
