I am a visual and graphics artist working in a variety of media (acrylics, inks, markers as well as digital work on textiles, canvas and card) with a creative practice connected to themes from mythology, psychedelia and altered consciousness states as well as archaic views and beliefs about the world retranslated into a modern context. I am largely self-taught both as an artist and designer and have this year completed a number of disparate commissions.
A holistic take on the creative process is an essential part of my work, dealing as I do with themes that customarily have a ritualistic component attached to them. As such I have developed a number of non-standard and non-contemporary approaches to my work that might be best termed shamanic or archaic, but the media in which I work and the physical methods I employ are decidedly modern.
:: styles ::
A range of styles are expressed throughout my work. These styles are drawn mostly from tribal, mythical and magical themes. By mythical or magical I don’t mean something Arthurian or fantasy, but ancient motifs and mythical principles which have been expressed by artists since mankind first began to express artistic intent. These earliest artworks were a form of primitive magic – ‘what I depict on this rock will be expressed in reality' – creating a new world or way of seeing the world and allowing reality and the expression of reality in art to become mirrors of each other. This idea is evident throughout my work.
X-ray - This is one of the earliest forms of art, found as rock carvings and cave art as far back as the Palaeolithic. Here the subject is seen from both within and without. The inner workings could be bones and organs, or matter of the spirit, such as the energy of the heart.
Cave Art - The painted Palaeolithic caves of France and Spain are a treasurehouse of ancient magic and raw inspiration for me. Almost all depictions of animals in my work have in some way been influenced by these ages-old masterpieces. My sense is that in some ways, they are perfect examples of the primal meaning of art, and as such, can be considered as unimprovable originals.
Old European - The art styles of the Old European matriarchal cultures, with their emphasis on the goddess and her magic, are a great inspiration to me. It is something almost religious for me to depict the old European goddess in my work, and just as ancient Europeans intended for the real deity to present not only in the world but in their art, so the presence of something sacred is always inferred in my work. For me, The Goddess is not merely painted, but recreated in any work of art. The viewer is transported to her presence.
Aztec and Maya - The earthy, vibrant art styles of Central America are so close to my heart. Deep within these styles are expressions of death, rebirth and pulsating lifeblood and many of the artistic symbols of these peoples have been incorporated into my work.
Shamanic art - Evident in the yarn paintings of the Huichol people of northern Mexico are shamanic experiences and energetic transformations of the spirit which have a healing and magical intent. Particularly influential to me is the work of Ramon Medina Silva. The shamanic art of Siberia and Native America is also very powerful for me.
Amazon art - The peoples of the Amazon live in a dark world under the canopy of the trees, but their reality is illuminated by the inner light of their hallucinogenic and shamanic experiences. The organic and earthy expressions in the art is contrasted by the other-worldly nature of its subject matter.
The Sky - The sky and the stories people tell about the various features within it have an endless fascination for me, and much of my work suggests themes from astronomical and stellar mythologies. This is most overt in the pieces found in the 'Skyscapes' section of this site, but can also be found implicitly elsewhere.
:: principles ::
Every artist works from some kind of principles. These are some of mine.
The shattered mirror - Human understanding of the nature of reality is like a shattered mirror – we cannot see the whole picture and the beliefs we hold as we look into reality affect the reality that we see and experience. My work enters into this feedback loop and seeks to repair the breakages to bring the viewer and the reality that is viewed into a holistic union.
As asymmetric as nature - Nature is rarely symmetric in form or content, and my work reflects this. Compositions are deliberately asymmetric and organic, and imbalance in an inherent feature of every picture.
The eye lies but the hand must not - The eye will see a subject a certain way, but will not see everything that is there. The X-ray style is one way of surmounting this – to show what is hidden from the eye’s view is evident throughout my work – but other techniques can also be seen. Just because my eye lies to me does not mean my hand should lie to you.
Liminality - Much of my work concerns ancient and primitive themes which are often seen as sacred or magical in both ancient and modern societies. As such, I have always endeavoured to give my work the sense of liminality between worlds – as the viewer beholds the picture, he or she stands before a portal into these ancient themes.
:: reduction ::
I often strive to reduce the subject. By this I mean stripping the subject down to the simplest form until I reach a point where what is left is the raw presence of the subject, shorn of minute details. As such, the subject becomes a primitive archetype. For example in drawing a woman, I want to reduce the number of lines drawn until what is left speaks exactly of woman, and becomes almost a magical symbol stating “Woman” and nothing else. From this point, the symbol can then be elaborated.
Copyright (c) 2002-2008 Bruce Rimell : All images, artwork, writings, texts and other information on this site
are copyrighted to Bruce Rimell and may not be reproduced in any form unless stated otherwise.