December 2013 – nik uzunovski

Well this blog originally began as a course requirement for University, however it morphed into something else. It became another place for me to share my thoughts on art and my own art practice at length. Although I have not yet posted anything of academic substance I feel that I have been able to make my voice be heard, however soft it may be at this time.

I recently achieved the 20 followers milestone on my blog, kinda feels like unlocking an achievement in a video game to be quite honest. 20 followers is definitely a solid milestone, considering that at the beginning I did not intend to use this blog anymore than I felt that I needed to, and here we are, just over a year later and I am still posting content as regularly as I can. I know that I have been quite absent, I have given up on the artist of the week feature, it felt as though it was a bit of a waste, I was merely copying and pasting biographical text from the source site (with proper references and acknowledgements) as well as images. It didn’t feel as though I was contributing anything besides a digital regurgitation of an artists brief bio and some examples of their work. I want to create pieces of writing in my own words about the artists that interest me rather than just cutting and pasting some info on them. I am aiming on creating more critical pieces of writing, however, as many writers; art writers in particular, will know it isn’t an easy job to just pop out any old bit of critical writing. Much like my paintings and other work it takes time to construct, edit and refine. So bare with me.

I am also wanting to produce reviews on shows that I have seen, although history will prove that art critics aren’t always the most popular people when they write negatively about an artist or their work. Well whatever I may write will be my opinion, it doesn’t need to be taken as “God’s word”, and I encourage feedback and correspondence from my subscribers (constructive and thought through).

As for my practice, I have had a rather fruitful year. Producing somewhere in the range of 50-60 works in total (should really do a count). I have been involved in a solid number of group shows and I finally had my own solo show as well as being involved in a group show in a Sydney gallery. I accomplished more than I thought I would in a year. I have grown my Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram and I am actively trying to further my blog/website; raising the bar on how well my social media outlets perform and how well they’re going at helping me get my work out their and grow the audience for it. As I will be seeking paid employment in the new year, I imagine my production of paintings and works on paper may slow down somewhat. Though it may slow down, this does not mean that it will cease completely, now way!!! I am aiming to be involved in more group shows this coming year; 2014. And I also am aiming to have another solo show; I will be trying to make it a regular event every year; of course some years I may not be able to produce a substantial amount of work, but group shows will always be a staple in my exhibiting schedule.

Many thanks to everyone who has supported me for the last seven years. Who would have thought that I would have become what I am today; even if that isn’t much. I am doing what I love, people are responding to it positively and constructively for the most part. For those who only know how to respond negatively, I am reminded of some people’s inadequacies and I keep my head up and my feet moving past your ignorance.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Regards,

Nik.

The question has been posed numerous times over the last few decades. Countless essays and papers have been written on the subject, this isn’t going to be an academic piece of writing. Simply just a quick thought on the subject, since recently someone I know said to me that painting had nothing left to offer artists; that painting was in a sense dead.

My immediate thought was that painting is far from being dead, it is a medium like all other mediums and disciplines; clay, collage, assemblage, photography, etching, linocut, digital media, installation, performance etc. It is up to the artist to push the envelope, to push the medium and the discipline. Challenge conventions and redefine what it means; what art means, what it means to create.

It is up to us as creative people to use our chosen mediums to create works of art that rise above the ideologies of relevance of the medium and instead make the concept, message, idea more relevant. Even when the work is about the exploration of the medium in itself, it is an investigation into how the medium; in this case painting, can be extended, pushed, improved, questioned etc.

I hope that was clear as mud.