It came together rather quickly though, I decided to only focus on the head as a body form was already described by the bottom half of this figure.
Whilst making it I had been reading up on Jacob Epstein and connected with these comments on Tribal Art and the ceremonial functions of tribal art.
“As fetishes the importance is religious or at any rate, magical. They were used to impress, terrify and impress to the beholders a state of mind bordering on, or actually, hallucinatory “
Epstein also had this to say on the influence of tribal art on his work
“ I am influenced by African sculpture in the same manner that all primitive work must influence the artist. African work has certain important lessons to teach that go to the root of all sculpture. I have tried to absorb those lessons without working in the African idiom. It would indeed be absurd for a European artist in these days to produce African idols, unlike all imitation it would be insincere”
“ The word “influence” as I understand it, means more than a mere surface study, it means a full comprehension of both mind and technique, that go to the composition of the work, and a translation of that, according to personality the artist. A complete re-creation in fact through a new mind.”
These comments are from
Primitivism in 20th century art, the museum of modern art 1988
These quotes seem to sum up some of the way I think about my art practice. I ingest what I see and try to reimagine it in to my own visual language through what I create.
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The Art and musings of Jeffrey Knopf 