Tomaseli’s paintings were both entrancing and enlightening the moment I saw them on the artinfo.com. His painting and layering style is much different from anything I have seen. The author of this article describes his paintings as a, “[window] to another reality,” that seems to be seen through a kaleidoscope. I found this interesting because as I studied his artwork more in depth I could observe elements much like a kaleidoscope just as Dailey states. When you look into a kaleidoscope you see shapes and interesting colors that distort an image. The real image gets broken up into small parts and colors in order to represent a whole. He does the same things in his artwork; he takes small elements and found objects, pieces them together and creates a form that is interesting to the eye. I loved the quote he stated in his interview, “my paintings are vehicles to take you to other places”. This is an exciting view on art, he wants his art to be seen differently by others and make them feel as though it can take them to a whole new world when they’re viewing it.
I have never heard of this artist until I started reading about him on this website, but I found it funny that he states that he usually resists change and refuses to move his studio after 20 years because he enjoys the comfort and the availability to surroundings that his environment provides him with. I felt a connection to him there due to the fact that I have lived in the same place all of my life and I feel a connection to the place in which I live. It makes me feel comforted because all for my resources are readily available to me, such as my family, which he also says is true. This is important to his artwork, because I feel as though the artists’ environment in which he or she works is very important to their process; it is where their ideas start and are formulated.
I was also glad to see that he had a connection to his work because it relates to his own history of substance abuse. Of course I do support the idea of how he handled his past, but I do like the fact that he actually has a connection to his work emotionally, which usually produces a stronger message to the viewer. I realize professors are always encouraging us to like what we’re doing and that we should evoke our own connection to the piece, otherwise viewers will be able to notice that we aren’t enjoying it by our end result.
As I read on, I found it very interesting that he keeps all of his materials, not only papers, but also found objects in organized folders and storage places so that he has them to incorporate into his projects when they are needed. I enjoy the fact that he finds his materials before he starts the works of art and then incorporates them into the works of art. His process of layering, especially in the piece, “The Woodpecker” is interesting in the sense that he does not only layer on top of a single layer, but also layers more on top of that layer, adding more depth to the piece. It is very neat how he not only incorporates the typical materials like paint but also brings in the natural more organic objects, to add a second layer to the piece.
The fact that he grew up “in the shadow of Disneyland” also made me feel a connection to the article and artist as I was reading. Just as he grew up next to an amusement park, so did I. I found it very interesting however that he fuels some of his ideas from the environment. The idea of taking the elements from an amusement park and involving them in his artwork is very inspiring. It made me think about the fact that I can transfer an environment from a separate place and incorporate the conditions into my own artwork. Overall I enjoyed the article discussing Fred Tomaseli’s artwork and I learned a great deal of information concerning a different kind of layering process that he implements and how his environments have influenced his pieces over his life span as an artist.
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/34410/fred-tomaselli/
