“Slow Art” Artists and Artist Statements

David Ivan Clark

“For me, the act of painting presents, rather than represents, a path back to, or into, a sacred, empty, silent space. Once completed, each painting serves as invitation for others to join me there or find that place for themselves in some other way.”

“Sometimes when one is moving silently through such an utterly desolate landscape, an overwhelming hallucination can make one feel that one’s self, as an individual human being, is slowly coming unraveled. The surrounding space is so vast that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep a balanced grip on one’s own being. I wonder if I am making myself clear. The mind swells out to fill the entire landscape, becoming so diffuse in the process that one loses the ability to keep it fastened to the physical self. That is what I experienced in the midst of the Mongolian steppes. How vast it was! It felt more like an ocean than a desert landscape. The sun would rise from the eastern horizon, cut its way across the empty sky, and sink below the western horizon. This was the only perceptible change in our surroundings. And in the movement of the sun, I felt something I hardly know how to name: some huge, cosmic love.”

Anne Moats

“I have always had a love affair with fabric. I love fabric's color. I love fabric's saturated color. I love fabric's color variation and pattern. I love fabric's tactile nature. I love the unraveling raw edges of fabric.”

”I love quilting. I love the three-dimensional nature of quilting. I love the freedom to add texture with quilting. I love the freedom to add surface design, beads, couched yarns and ribbons to my quilting.”

“I use the medium of textiles to represent my home. For the past few years, that home has been my southern Arizona "sky island" of Bisbee, Arizona. I am especially drawn to images that are not considered classically attractive. That includes landscapes of disintegrating structures, ruins of our abandoned past. I am drawn to wildlife not considered classically attractive. I am drawn to the unnoticed dramas that play out beneath our notice.”

Abril Quintana

Abril is a thirteen year-old 8th grade student from Douglas, Arizona. She is very experimental with her art, while having fun at the same time.

Unknown Chinese artist

Chinese watercolor painting evolved from the ancient, high art of calligraphy of 6,000 years ago. Specific, controlled brush strokes in slow motion were perfected and passed down through generations. Discovery of mineral and plant pigments gradually helped move the art into landscape, figure, and botanical art. Flower painting became an independent genre around the 9th century. Many different plants are represented, but the most significant is the lotus. The lotus bloom represents beauty rising above the muck of dark ponds, purity, and optimism.

This painting was purchased at the Emperor’s summer palace near Bejing in 2005 and is watercolor on paper.

African Nail Fetish

“Fetishes were protective figures used by individuals, families, or whole communities to destroy or weaken evil spirits, prevent or cure illnesses, repel bad deeds, solemnize contracts or oath-taking, and decide arguments. A diviner or holy person would activate the statue, using magical substances. Fetishes gained power and were effective because people believed in them.” (Rand African Art)

This fetish is thought to have been made in Chad near the Congo River of materials gathered from European shipwrecks in the mid-nineteenth century.