Introduction
“Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature’s monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed. The order which we find in nature, and which is only an effect of art, would at once vanish. Everything would break up in chaos. There would be no seasons, no civilization, no thought, no humanity; even life would give way, and the impotent void would reign everywhere.”
– Guillaume Apollinaire
Artist Statement
Alexander Laurean
The Eternal Hieroglyph, that is universal, is the starting point for any of the works I create. The universal hieroglyph is nothing new, best practised by Antonin Artaud in his performance work it’s a state, a picture, a universal emotion that can be understood by anyone without a single word being spoken. My work is always subconscious, I am influenced by my work within in theatre, creating “hieroglyphs” that can be understood universally completely free from the barriers of language, culture or background. I see art as a magical undertaking, much like a shaman creating a picture that embosses itself on our reality in order to direct energy towards an ultimate outcome. The outcome being the emotional feeling the viewer receives from the work. Although I take great care in selecting titles for my work, the painting must always be able to stand alone by itself, a universal hieroglyph. The universal hieroglyph’s meaning is of the collective subconscious we share, empathically picked up, and understood.
“Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purpose through him. As a human being he may have moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is "man" in a higher sense— he is "collective man"— one who carries and shapes the unconscious, psychic forms of mankind.”― C.G. Jung