1998 Nez artist statement

Title: 1998 Nez artist statement
LC Subject: Art--Documentation Art--Exhibitions Biography Résumés (Employment)
Creator: Nez, David
Description: My recent works on paper are inspired by alchemical manuscripts. The alchemists documented their labors in enigmatic texts in which chemical procedures, cosmology and myths are woven together into fantastic allegories. Similarly in my paintings I use imagery of birds, beasts, plants and minerals as symbols of the process of transformation, As an artist I view alchemy as a metaphor for the creative process in which there is progressive transformation and refinement of materials, imagery and ultimately consciousness. In alchemy and art alike the creative imagination is the vital agent of change. The alchemists described their labors as an "art". Like the alchemist I attempt to use physical processes as a mirror of inner experience. The materials become "transmuted" from their initially inert state through creative and chaotic struggle into a new synthesis. In my painting I use physical processes of dissolution, evaporation, heat and gravity which remind me of the alchemist's use of the elements of water, air, fire and earth. Humor is an important element of my work. Likewise humor and paradox were not unknown to the alchemist. The texts abound with cryptic riddles meant to befuddle the literal-minded and catalyze intuitive insight. Hermes, the Greek god of wisdom, was the patron of alchemists and also the trickster who could lead his followers on a search to find "fools gold". Anyone who embarks on a potentially quixotic search to find the elixir of immortality should have plenty of humor and humility to sustain themselves! The homunculus, a human-like creature nurtured in a glass vessel was reputed to have been created in the alchemical laboratory. In the novel "Frankenstein" the renegade doctor studies the writings of Paracelsus, the swiss alchemist, before creating his monster. I see the homunculus as a metaphor for modem technology with all its wonders and potential horrors. The series of "Homunculus" sculptures which utilize remnants of household appliances and found objects explores this theme in a whimsical fashion. The alchemist searched for the "gold of the philosophers"-philosophical wisdom. In their pursuit of nature's secrets they combined scientific experimentation with a mystical quest for illumination. Their holistic view of the universe viewed matter and consciousness as a continuum, anticipating recent developments in physics. Alchemy is the ancestor of modem science; perhaps there is something that can be learned from its legacy? I am inspired artistically by the beauty of the texts and their insights into the mysteries of creation. Hopefully my own fanciful creations convey something of the spirit of that tradition. (Nez, 1998) The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is Lane Arts. You may view their website at http://www.lanearts.org
Location: William W. Knight Law Center >> Lane County >> Oregon >> United States Lane County >> Oregon >> United States
Street Address: 1515 Agate Street, Eugene Oregon
Date: 1975/2012
Identifier: 1998_uo_knight-law_10d_b01
Accession Number: 1998_uo_knight-law_10d_b01
Rights: In Copyright
Dc Rights Holder: Nez, David
Language: English
Type: Text
Format: image/tiff
Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Primary Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Relation: 1998-1999 University of Oregon Knight Law Center moveable and integrated artwork 1998_uo_knight-law Pisces; Solve Et Coagula; Magician's Tale #2; The Salamander
Has Version: black and white; documents
Institution: Oregon Arts Commission University of Oregon
Color Space: Grayscale