Welcome back, dear readers and drifters.
I have not wrote in a long while, and now feel that I have something to share again with those who wish to see it.
This post follows my particular concept of the ‘eternal midnight’ and, further, my ideas about it in the context of a poem and some recent artwork.
But, what constitutes my thoughts is more than an idea; it is a feeling, a sense of being. In this being, there is an activation of some special source.
The source of the idea, or where the idea arrives to me from is of a mysterious nature and something of an endless, ever present fascination with the absence of light. This feeling is a spur that allows me to follow and search for visions, images, and play with this force of ideas in the dark.
The trigger comes by through my experience of the natural world in constant change and the process of the planets, the sun, the stars, and the moon. This allure is one of change and a particular transitory, almost ephemeral moment that is, to me, incredibly sensual, intimate, and alive. It is a muse and a delight.
What follows below is a written piece that is the immediate articulation of what I believe to be the eternal midnight for me – the thought of it, the feeling, the sense of being and all its possibility. After all, poems lend themselves to the these things.
The night conjures an eternal searching
In silence, it speaks
I witness the blackness and in it I am
It provides more than the senses can experience and more than explanations or definitions grant
I utilise it, endlessly, and it does not wane
The absence from form entices mystery
I feel alive in the dark and the dark encompasses me with warmth and guidance
The source of shadow brings focus and clarity, oneness and purity to my being.
In this sense, the release of the source comes through in the writing. As I follow the source, there is no single pattern that emerges, but a whole configuration that is much akin to a constellation of light appearing.
Below are some snapshots of some recent drawings from my Visual Art Honours Degree. These portraits and figures were created in either low-light sources or during night, all utilising a single and focused light source.
The particular aesthetic I explored with these artworks was one of a fundamentally implicit and suggested nature, allowing for the look of a distilled life force. Being all life drawings, these works allow for a more lively presence and fascination with the energy that living things imbue and impart: Change, movement, a dramatised sense of emotion and character, as well as a fascination with mortality and expiration.
Man in Wind (detail). 2016. Ink with Toothbrush on Paper.
Searching. 2016. Bitumen, Ink, Oil, Charcoal and Dammar Varnish on Hemp Canvas.
Man at Night II. 2016. Bitumen on Cardboard.
I am now preparing to create a new body of work extending upon these original artworks and the poem. I look forward to sharing these with you when I can.
Until that moment, godspeed.
A note about my work: for anyone who wishes to utilise my words or images, please send me an email at the address provided at the bottom of this post. I would also greatly appreciate it if scammers from websites that hunt and scourge blogs like my own and others, do not utilise these works for their own profit. Thank you.
My email: tansell@our.ecu.edu.au
His Empty Space 