ARTIST PROFILE:
LOU ANN BAR DASH
What is the relationship between reality and art?
With my own personal self, the art is my reality. Whether it's
visual art or music.
When that paint is on my brush or my hands are on the piano - that's real and I
know I am alive. Doesn't get any more real than that. But maybe you meant the
question in a broader sense…
What is it like for you to be a member of the Austin art scene?
Well really, I don’t know if I am a part of the Austin art
scene. That's why it says
on my card "artist @ large". We came from Nashville where I was part of the
music scene for 18 years and it kinda knocked any desire out of me to be part
of a scene.
Who are your favorite artists and why?
Right off the bat, Modigliani. I also love Tamara de Lempicka.
Don't really know
why…so many reasons... Max Beckmann. Clemente. But you know I appreciate
anyone who creates art and then throws it out there for people to see, enjoy and,
of course as we are human, criticize.
Do you ever come to a standstill
in your work and if so, how do you
get through it?
My problem is more having to rotate the art with the music.
Can't seem to do
both during the same time period - so I end up always feeling when I'm
painting "Oh I'm not doing my music" and when I'm doing music "Oh I'm
not painting"…. Probably total neuroses. But the good thing is, if I do
have
a painting standstill, I can go over and pick up the guitar and sing.
Are you trying to make a particular statement in your work?
No, I just keep painting and hoping that wherever all of this
creative stuff
is coming from - it keeps on coming. Maybe my statement would be that
it's never too late to start painting or singing or whatever.
What Gallery/Galleries in Austin
do you feel consistently
shows the best work?
You have caught me. I don't frequent galleries… But I will
mention the
Julie Speed show we went to some time ago @ the Austin Museum of
Art. And, even though it's in Houston, the Menil Collection. I left each
incredibly inspired.
What does "postmodernism" mean to you?
To be perfectly frank, it doesn't mean anything to me as I just
don't think
in terms of labels or movements…
Can you talk about your use of design as an element of your work?
Here's how I do my painting. On wood, I simply find the picture
in the wood
and everything about it is arbitrary. On canvas, I've begun to paint abstracts
so I can paint as I do on the wood - arbitrarily. Every time I try and think about
what I'm going to paint and try and plan it all out - when I get into the actual
moment - I realize I have to follow where the painting is taking me, not where
I'm trying to take it.
muchos gracias to Saundra Fleming