| December
19, 2004
Brave
New World was often regarded as a favorite back in 1999 when
I created it. At the time, I was living in a large house with my
own room and a shared living room. It was one of those cheap housing
units for college students which inevitably end up being destroyed
or condemned. In other words, it was a lot of fun.
I
did a lot of my earlier artwork there, almost everything in 1998
and 1999, including the 1998 Works, Model Portraits, some early
Watercolors, and most of the Acrylics collections. So Brave New
World came together during a fertile period.
This
was the twelvth acrylic painting or so, which includes many which
were sold or given away long before this website was ever an idea
(too bad, because they were really good). I wanted to shift gears
a little bit, and try for something different than a Jackson Pollack-inspired
assault. I chose to go with a method of creating patterns in the
chaos. This is something that I used quite often, actually; I think
it was largely due to this painting.
I
don't think I started out trying to create some abstract map of
the Americas; it just happened that way, and I always enjoyed the
improvisational nature of this style of art. It's good to create
something as a moment in time. But when I made the finishing touches
- the reds and greens - I took advantage of the opportunity.
The
title comes from the Aldous Huxley novel, which I had read the summer
before alongside Orwell's 1984. At the time, I preferred
the Huxley book for its depiction of a society that willingly chooses
to embrace the police state, and embrace mediocrity. Of course,
I've learned to appreciate Orwell's genius, as his vision has become
the de facto blueprint for the Bush era and the fall of the Republic. |
