Robert Hardgrave interview – Countenances of Spirits
Crevasse by Robert Hardgrave
Robert Hardgrave, a self-developed artist based in Seattle, works with the present moment. Robert has exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at the Joshua Liner Gallery. Painting from the periphery of consciousness, Hardgrave evokes subtle assembly languages of consciousness, which flow quietly in the background of conscious awareness.
Within his paintings are implicated the ‘countenances of spirits’ – fleeting, subtle and enigmatic glimpses of beings, totemic forms, labyrinthine fluids, schools of thought, and diverse laws and customs in potentia, whispered through vortices conjured in flowing curves and lines.
It is with great happiness LILA can present this exclusive interview with Robert Hardgrave.
Daniel Mirante :
How do you develop a piece? I am interested in the working method of spontaneous art as it seems to involve an opening to another level of organization to work through the artist – somewhat similar to the techniques that shamans and mediums use to draw from or represent non-ordinary forms of intelligence.
Robert Hardgrave :
I work in a sort of nonchalant fashion by working on a bunch of different things all at once. Whether its canvas, paper or panel I just start laying down marks to work with. With so many things to choose from I don’t get sucked into the feeling of making something too precious where the dread of ruining something is removed. This allows missteps to be destroyed to make something better. I believe work will always rise to the top and finish itself just by the mere act of trusting your ability to make something successful. While I am working I am searching for what the painting or how the materials are guiding me. At some point I find out what the painting is and develop the work in a more deliberate way.
Daniel Mirante :
It sounds like you have to stay in the moment to allow things to emerge, without falling into ‘painting a picture’. So what do you find useful in facilitating this flow state where you can allow art to self-organise without too much attachment or assertion of ego ? Have you always made art this way or is it something you’ve grown into…?
Robert Hardgrave :
You’re right. It also means I have to have a strong discipline of being in the studio everyday. Constant processing of the materials to maintain that flow is necessary. Before I leave the studio I take a digital photograph of whatever I’m working on so I can see it on my computer. It adds that need perspective you can’t get from being right next to the work. Often times if something isn’t feeling right I will put it away for a couple weeks and pull it our later to see if anything I’ve learned in the meantime can be applied to that piece. Working this way keeps me from getting “stuck”.
I haven’t always worked this way. Learning how to best utilize my time in the studio took a long time for me to understand. I used to try to have too much control over the work and it seemed lifeless to me. Understanding that we have such little control over how our lives progress is where I started to apply those principles to my work. I am much happier being an accepting vessel rather than being a taskmaster over my work.
Daniel Mirante :
One of the things noted about your work is the calligraphic mark-making element. It is almost like your paintings are written in a kind of ‘ur-sprach’, a primal language/syntax. Do you ever contemplate during painting or at the end of a piece an evolving narrative ?
Robert Hardgrave :
In studying different cultural design motifs I have discovered that there are many similarities in visual syntax throughout different cultures. Be it from the limitations of the hand or the nomadic nature of humans, writing and decorating can be a connecting thread to our species. I am a contemporary painter in the way a lot of things are synthesized from many different places. Collage for instance, in my opinion, is probably one of the most important and inevitable occurrence in modern image making and beyond. Since we all know there is nothing new, we tend to juxtapose disparate items to find new things. It happens in all art forms, be it music, dance, theater, painting, etcetera. For me it’s the work that was/is made as part of a lifestyle; clothing, rugs, pots, totems, spirituality. I don’t want to recreate that sort of work, but I want to apply those activities to the spontaneity of my process, challenging my perceptions and find things that I wouldn’t have normally thought of on my own.
The beauty of my current process is that there is this dream like interpreting that happens during and after the image is created. I don’t tend to remember my dreams from sleeping since I feel I dream plenty while I am awake. Most of the narratives that surface do relate to my life in general, or at least that’s how I interpret them.
Submerged by Robert Hardgrave
Daniel Mirante :
What is the role of the natural world in your life work? I see more relationship to the process in which the natural world develops and evolves, than in the kind of linear engineering processes common to the man-made world.
Robert Hardgrave :
You are correct. I tend to work in a completely organic fashion. Having a set formula wouldn’t be an interesting process for me at all. I have found that If I have a clear plan I end up being much less excited about the work. This also means that it probably takes me longer to produce work, but making the work is the best part anyway.
Daniel Mirante :
Thankyou deeply for sharing these insights into your artistic practice with us.
Bio :
Robert Hardgrave, a Seattle resident for the past 17 years, lives with his lovely wife Stephanie and two sweet dogs, a Beagle and a Pug. Visit his website at www.roberthardgrave.com
Great work, as always. And great insight into the process. Thanks, Robert!
These pieces are absolutely beautiful, i love the flow and shapes. Thankyou Robert.