representational and non-objective

Emotions and Memories

Dana Ortega

            Alright, so to me representational and non-objective art can start in two different places but end up creating a type of circle. Non-objective art always seems to invoke emotions instead of memories. Of course, emotions can lead to a large array of memories involving that emotion. Since the subject is unrecognizable, there's rarely something that can connect the subject to a specific memory or experience. Of course, a color can remind someone of an item, but for me personally, the colors and shapes invoke emotions first and foremost. So since this is supposed to be my experience viewing the various pieces, I'd thought I'd talk about that.

            Now representational brings up memories for me. Since the subject is identifiable, it connects with something specific. They bring up experiences, lessons, things that I've read or watched. This causes me to remember emotions from a specific event. The memory they bring up leads to the multiple emotions I felt during that time. For me, each piece brings up a single thing, which leads to multiple aspects of it. Non-objective art tends to brings up a single emotion which leads to parts of multiple memories that all shared that emotion. Representational art tends to bring up a single memory which leads to multiple emotions involving that memory.

Paul Jenkins, Phenomena Royal Violet Visitation, 1977, Acrylic on canvas

This painting makes me happy.

The museum kindly provided a quote from Paul Jenkins on the sick on plaque next to the painting: "The word phenomenon came to me after finishing a painting which happened with no preconceived idea. The sensation of the experience happened within me, not outside me, as though it were done by a 'medium.'" This was inspired by no memory or outside experience, it was just a feeling. I'm inclined to think it was a happy, hopeful feeling. The bright colors and how the colors are opening out just make me feel happy. I remembered seeing a butterfly fluttering about my mom's garden, I remember seeing the flowers in her garden for the first time for the year, I remember watching a Planet Earth documentary and feeling happy and hopeful about the earth and the various places and things on it. This painting, while lacking any recognizable subject matter led to me remembering things and experiences that made me happy.

Richard LaBarre Goodwin, The Huntsman's Door, Circa 1890, Oil on Canvas

            This is one of my favorite paintings at the Hunter. It's just gorgeous and I love it. Anyway, when I see this painting I remember my dad bringing home a doe from a hunt. I remember the little bit of blood underneath her and the tangy smell of it, I remember helping my dad pull the rope to hoist her up and I remember that the rope smelled like dirt and how the rope felt through the old gloves I was wearing, I remember the stray cats looking at her with anticipation for whatever scraps they are given and having to make sure she was high enough so that they wouldn't be able to get to her, and I remember her limp legs just hanging there with her head nearly pulled over the beam she was hanging on. This memory led to emotions. I remember feeling sad at her death, I remember being happy for my dad who rarely gets a chance to go hunting and it's even rarer that he actually kills something, and I remember feeling disgust at seeing the organs Dad would later cook. The painting, while not necessarily involving the exact elements of my memory, similar aspects in both the memory and the painting brought up a experience I hadn't thought about in years. It brought up the sights, smells, and feelings from that memory, not just specific parts of it.

            In my mind, these two types of art can both bring up memories or emotions, and one is not necessarily better than the other. One brings out many fragments of multiple memories for me, while another brings out one memory in its entirety. Non-objective works tend to focus on things that are not tangible, things like ideas and emotions. While representational art are often based on thinks that the artist sees or something they remember. I think this leads the viewer to be lead to thoughts on the same subject matter in the same area of existence as the artist.