
An artist on every level, Paris Tremayne is a man dedicated to making his life an inherently creative experience. His colorful paintings and art prints are the product of an unencumbered mind, and a creative process that values his own intuition above any technique. Paris Tremayne delves deeply into his own philosophic meanderings in a way that give the viewer great insight into his fantastically kaleidoscopic creations. You’ll fall into his colorful world, and be happy that you’ve landed there.
Ahead, you’ll amass a better understanding of the mindset behind Paris Tremayne’s amazingly liberated pieces. These new media productions embrace a future in which computers are merely another tool in one’s belt, and where the possibilities expand exponentially.
Enjoy as Australia’s Paris Tremayne jumps down the IPMM rabbit hole.
Evan La Ruffa: I have plenty of thoughts about how I would describe your work, but I’m always interested in how artists describe what they do. So tell us, how would you characterize your own work? What is the Paris Tremayne style?
Paris Tremayne: I choose to avoid describing my work so that the viewer can embark on their own journey. What you see will be different from what I see or what your friend sees. And it’s not my place or even my right to interfere with that.
Although, I would say my work is an expression of the profound joy, utter wonder and intense gratitude I feel for life itself. I once heard David Hockney say that ‘love’ was probably as close words could get to describing what his work was about. I relate to that.
Tell us a little more about your process. From start to finish would be great!
To quote Kandinsky ‘everything starts with a dot’. Sometimes I have a vague notion of the direction of the picture, but it never turns out that way. The initial idea is just the commencement of the journey. It’s like finding a seed and planting it, not knowing what it will grow into.
The pictures just sort of unfold of their own accord. And so it feels as though they are creating themselves. Sometimes this happens very quickly, but other times I’ll sit around and stare for a long time, waiting for the next wave inspiration to come.
I’m endlessly excited by form and the fact that the possibilities for variation are quite literally infinite. On completing anything (be it a tiny fragment of a piece or an entire piece) this then in turn opens up a whole new world of inspiration and possibility. And in this way the work just evolves of it’s own accord and one day I just look back and think “wow my work has changed so much! How did that happen?”
The process is the same whether I’m painting or using new media (digital drawing). In fact despite some obvious differences, drawing with new media is more similar than I realized to painting. I am still very much ‘drawing’, only with digital work I’m using a type of pen and opaque tablet in front on a computer whereas in painting I’m using a brush on a canvas.
The most important thing for me is that I allow myself to be guided by my intuition; to follow my gut rather than my head. I find the latter tends to lead to boring and predictable work. Whereas the former makes me feel alive and profoundly excited, having no idea what will come next.
Having said all this, there is also the more practical side of my work such as tidying a piece up where needs be, etc. This as well as many aspects of ‘finalizing’ a piece can be very time consuming.
But even this I find meditative. The whole process is just so wonderful.
Paris Tremayne, you’ve had the pleasure of having art shows at some pretty prestigious galleries. Which one was your favorite, and why?
I get a massive rush from watching people look at my work in a physical space. One of my favourite parts of exhibiting is returning throughout the show (other than opening night) and observing people interact with my work without knowing I’m the artist.
It also feels amazing when people explain to me the impact my work has had on them. Sometimes they’ll point out things I hadn’t noticed and this reminds me the pictures have lives of their own and that they don’t belong to me.
I enjoy this whole process no matter where it is. And so no particular gallery I’ve exhibited at stands out.
You say on your about page that visual art is essentially your most fluent language, and that’s why you didn’t become a writer. I love that sentiment. As a writer, I totally understand having one art form in which one feels most conversant. How did you develop that? Or has it always felt that way for you?
This is an interesting topic for me, as I adore words and sounds as well as the visual mediums; in the past I’ve written a lot of poetry. I do however, feel like I can express the subtleties of life’s infinite intricacies through a visual medium with more potency.
Awesome. I love that.
What I meant about not becoming a writer was that I don’t feel the need to explain my work with words. Once it’s done, it’s done, if the work is effective, no words are required, as it should speak for itself.
Asking a visual artist to explain their work in words is the same as asking a writer to draw a picture about their book or poem.
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