TIM ROWAN
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
My art work flows from a basic desire to find and create meaning in my life. It is fueled by questions I ask myself concerning the realities I am confronted with.
There is one thing that we know for certain- we will die. No manner of conceptual, abstract, or analytical thought can conceal this fact of our existence. No faith or belief in what follows can deny the reality that as biological organisms eventually our bodies will no longer be “alive”. We cannot escape the forces of time.
In this highly technological and capitalist society our perception of time has been radically affected. Time has been measured and fragmented into smaller and smaller increments. It has been broken up, bound, categorized, and commodified. What is the impact of this on society and the individual? What is our relationship with time? These questions which form an important aspect of my art work, are manifested in three main areas; process, tradition, and form.
Process is essential to my work and begins with the medium of clay itself. Investigating and using clays from the local area locates me in a specific place and serves to bring to my awareness time as manifest in the moment. Working with raw clay and prospecting in the natural environment serves to keep me in tune with an earth centered and geologic time. The forming process, working on multiples and repetitively, is not unlike growth in nature.
Clay must be worked at its own pace as its moisture is slowly evaporating regardless of the demands from outside. Firing functions in a similar way. The wood kiln must be slowly stoked for 7 days if the work is to be successfully transformed from clay to cultural artifact.
Tradition is the natural growth of culture through time. It is not static but rather in continuous evolution. I continually look to the past with respect in my work in order to appreciate how we have developed as a society. I directly and indirectly reference work of the past that has something valuable to tell me. We continually move in a cyclical direction and cannot divorce our selves of prior experience.
The forms that my work take on are simple. They rely on a minimum amount of information and detail. They are constructed with a language of subtly, understatement, and restraint. In contrast to the majority of objects and images that we are bombarded with in our contemporary society they do not easily stand out or compete for attention and in this respect require the viewer to actively slow down. They have the capacity to be engaging on different levels and this is best accomplished when one allows the work to reveal itself over time. Utilitarian objects also require physical participation, such as drinking a cup of tea. These rituals of use are also embodiments of time. When I experience real joy I am aware of my mortality and the preciousness of the moment.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
My art work flows from a basic desire to find and create meaning in my life. It is fueled by questions I ask myself concerning the realities I am confronted with.
There is one thing that we know for certain- we will die. No manner of conceptual, abstract, or analytical thought can conceal this fact of our existence. No faith or belief in what follows can deny the reality that as biological organisms eventually our bodies will no longer be “alive”. We cannot escape the forces of time.
In this highly technological and capitalist society our perception of time has been radically affected. Time has been measured and fragmented into smaller and smaller increments. It has been broken up, bound, categorized, and commodified. What is the impact of this on society and the individual? What is our relationship with time? These questions which form an important aspect of my art work, are manifested in three main areas; process, tradition, and form.
Process is essential to my work and begins with the medium of clay itself. Investigating and using clays from the local area locates me in a specific place and serves to bring to my awareness time as manifest in the moment. Working with raw clay and prospecting in the natural environment serves to keep me in tune with an earth centered and geologic time. The forming process, working on multiples and repetitively, is not unlike growth in nature.
Clay must be worked at its own pace as its moisture is slowly evaporating regardless of the demands from outside. Firing functions in a similar way. The wood kiln must be slowly stoked for 7 days if the work is to be successfully transformed from clay to cultural artifact.
Tradition is the natural growth of culture through time. It is not static but rather in continuous evolution. I continually look to the past with respect in my work in order to appreciate how we have developed as a society. I directly and indirectly reference work of the past that has something valuable to tell me. We continually move in a cyclical direction and cannot divorce our selves of prior experience.
The forms that my work take on are simple. They rely on a minimum amount of information and detail. They are constructed with a language of subtly, understatement, and restraint. In contrast to the majority of objects and images that we are bombarded with in our contemporary society they do not easily stand out or compete for attention and in this respect require the viewer to actively slow down. They have the capacity to be engaging on different levels and this is best accomplished when one allows the work to reveal itself over time. Utilitarian objects also require physical participation, such as drinking a cup of tea. These rituals of use are also embodiments of time. When I experience real joy I am aware of my mortality and the preciousness of the moment.