Maybe it was my introduction to mandalas in elementary school. Maybe it was the artist Peter Max or the animation in the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, designed by Heinz Edelmann (I did have a Yellow Submarine lunchbox). Whatever it was, my young self dug the style and colors and psychedelic patterns of the times, which included rainbows, colorful rivers, flowers, hearts, smiley faces, and peace signs.
I was requested to clear out my old artwork from my parents' home, and here is a series I found from 1973-76. They won't last forever: I drew them with regular marking pens on 5 x 7" index cards. Because all of them, except one, was stored in the dark, the colors are still remarkably bright.
Most likely while listening to 93KHJ-AM, then Top 40 radio (now a Spanish language news station), I started with an organic outline and then added the sections.
Looking back, I see I also would have been interested in Gond art: Indian art that employs signature patterns developed from nature (see "Personal Patterns: Gond Art and Books from India" for details). Grounding a pattern in reality deepens the connection to the viewer; a shared experience. On the other hand, my patterns were taken from the aesthetic of 1970s popular culture, which, at age eleven, was quite real to me.
I was requested to clear out my old artwork from my parents' home, and here is a series I found from 1973-76. They won't last forever: I drew them with regular marking pens on 5 x 7" index cards. Because all of them, except one, was stored in the dark, the colors are still remarkably bright.
Most likely while listening to 93KHJ-AM, then Top 40 radio (now a Spanish language news station), I started with an organic outline and then added the sections.
June 1973
February 1974
February 1974
April 1974
(undated)
(undated)
October 10, 1976
Looking back, I see I also would have been interested in Gond art: Indian art that employs signature patterns developed from nature (see "Personal Patterns: Gond Art and Books from India" for details). Grounding a pattern in reality deepens the connection to the viewer; a shared experience. On the other hand, my patterns were taken from the aesthetic of 1970s popular culture, which, at age eleven, was quite real to me.
Comments