Choosing a good title for a finished work of art is an art in itself. What makes a good title appropriate? What works? In my paintings, I deliberately choose titles that don't necessarily make sense or explain the obvious, but instead say something a little more cryptic, hinting at a narrative perhaps on the edge of your conscious grasp. Why such elaborate titles? What do they mean? These are the questions I'm sure you may ponder. My titles are like micro-poems, complex and dynamic in their arrangement, like the colourful abstract shapes and forms in my paintings. Nothing is defined in the playful, seemingly chaotic yet semi-figurative, more organised nature of the paintings, and the titles reflect that - not giving meaning, they are expressing. The American Modernist painter Stuart Davis, is also known for his use of poetic, stream of consciousness, jazz influenced titles such as 'Hot Still-Scape For Six Colors - 7th Avenue Style'. Words can be as interesting and evocative as visual works. I find by combining these two qualities, this creates an emotive interplay of sounds, feelings, ideas and abstract thought patterns. 'Smashing Through The Hush-Up In Cascading Wings Of Ecstasy' (below) is one of my latest paintings with such a title.
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| Smashing Through The Hush-Up In Cascading Wings Of Ecstasy (Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 150 cm) |
