October 2016 Blog

Welcome to my blog. I arrived in prison in 1997. at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me visit <www.seanjwhiteartist.com>

Promise, Promises

In my last post I promised some graphic fiction. Well here is the preview. I hope to release the entire work sometime in 2017.

Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you. Although an artist might create to fulfill his or her inner needs, an audience adds to an  artist’s sense of satisfaction and drive an artist forward.

Also, we received an email from someone in Europe . Unfortunately, we–ah– seem to have misplaced your information as we prepared to reply. Could you send it again?

September 2016 Blog

Welcome to my blog. I Arrived in prison in 1997 at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me go to http://www.seanjwhiteartist.com

INFLUENCE AND TRANSITION

I’ve been reading a lot of graphic(i.e.. comic books) Storytelling lately– some fiction, some autobiographical, some in between.

When I was a kid a  I read almost nothing but superhero books. Batman doing this, Wolverine teaming up with whoever- (wo)man, or some such. Although I did by happenstance get an occasional look at something experimental or underground, the likelihood of me giving two cares about it ran at lottery odds.

I have explored the media in the past, but not to the level I have in the last few months. Only recently have I discovered the extent to which graphic storytelling  has grown. It has exploded well beyond superhero books and underground comix. Now there I truly everything, and the media continues to expand. The best I have come across: R. Crumb, The Book of Genesis ( yes , the Bible); Phoebe Gloeckner, ” Minnie’s Third Love”( real s–, not for the faint of heart); Chris Ware, Building Stories (non- conventional layouts); Jessica Abel, La Peridida ( plain good storytelling); and Scott McCloud, Zot! ( especially the Earth stories where he explores what comic books can be). The list only breaks ground at the dig site of graphic storytelling. If you readers have any favorites , please share them. This media opens doorways into new dimensions.

Next month I will release a  few pages of my own graphic storytelling from my project She: Tales of Relatable Cynicism.

FALLACY

Giving Up-AUGUST BLOG

Welcome to my blog. I arrived in prison in 1997 at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is…  I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me go to http://www.seanjwhiteartist.com.

                                                            Giving Up

I think a lot about quitting. “Why go on?” I ask myself. In the process I’ll assign myself an excremental value, and eventually verbalize my self-loathing.  Sometimes I’ll even contemplate hanging up the phone, so to speak.

These are statements of fact. I seek no pity.

Yet despite those thoughts, I keep going. Why do I do that?

What if the only meaning in the universe is the meaning we create? If true , I have a duty as a human being to add to meaning if I can. A cynical Pascal’s Wager, but,  you need something to keep you from giving up.

The Real July 2016 Blog Post

Falling Through the Margin’s Three Ring Binder Holes

Welcome to my blog. I arrived in prison in 1997. at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me visit <www.seanjwhiteartist.com>

Although you are reading this on the internet. I never touched a computer to bring this blog to life. Not one key stroke , neither a mouse click.

I arrived in prison… oh ,wait, you already know that from the intro. As you can imagine, prisoner access to technology remains in the 20th century ( mostly because prison officials have yet to figure out how to make money on the scheme, tempered by a few minor security issues). We type on memory-less typewriters ( if we can afford them), and make collect calls from phones bolted to the wall.  ( We are also permitted to purchase small televisions and radios.)

The internet existed before my incarceration, but it wasn’t accessible on AT&T  Star Trek communicators. I did send an e-mail once, in an era when Internet service affected one’s access to the telephone. Everything has changed and I am out of the loop.

What can I do?

I read in an article in a writing magazine how the Internet service “Submittable” ignores the needs of already marginalized segments of society  who are writers. So often rejection notices arrive informing me that postal submissions are no longer acceptable. in one instance I had poetry accepted for publication, yet the journal wanted e-mail confirmation. But for my support system outside of prison, success almost became failure.

Imagine how that lack affects my visual art endeavors. I can not research galleries nor easily locate  potential venues for display. I cannot explore the work of my peers. I cannot communicate  with anyone in the arts except by postal mail if I should have the luck to stumble on an address.

What can I do?

Te Quiero

 

 

July Blog- The Labyrinth

Welcome to my blog. I arrived in prison in 1997. at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me visit <www.seanjwhiteartist.com>

I tried writing a short serial bog a few years ago with limited success. Please don’t read that as an indictment to readership. The fault was mine. I entered the arena with unrealistic expectations  and the bare rudiments of a plan. But, as they say, if you get kicked from a horse , stand up and curse. Oh, and perhaps saddle up again.

In the time since abandoning the other blog I have grown and developed as an artist. Things change even as they do not. The world is, as a friend explained to me, a labyrinth. Each of us wanders , lost, looking for a way out. Unfortunately , it seems to me, the labyrinth ideas fits more the analogy of a bad video game where one struggles through each level searching for an exit only to find oneself transported to another level upon completion of the previous.

A tapestry of threads fills my labyrinth. Instead of searching for the next level , I think I’ll slow down and follow different threads that interest me. The Minotaur will catch up eventually anyway. I might as well enjoy the journey.

Inset

 

 

Sucess from Failure

May/June 2016 Blog Post

Welcome to my blog. I arrived in prison in 1997. at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me visit <www.seanjwhiteartist.com>

Many people discount the importance of a three yard rushing  play in American football. it can accomplish much even if it doesn’t lead directly to a score. A step forward is a step forward regardless of the outcome of the step.

In a previous article I discussed the DOC policy changes that adversely affect my art practice. I tried some things— different techniques, different medias, et cetera. The experiments all worked  ( one  can be immodest without being a braggart ) and yielded expected results. However, practicality often decided to stop by an turn  my good ideas into a mess on the floor.

The image accompanying this text is a self- portrait in oil. Not really much of an experiment. I’ve rendered images of myself on numerous occasions in numerous media and methods. The experiment was the surface.

Because Policy limited surface choice to cookie-cutter formats , I tried to develop a method to control the dimensions. I cut half-inch strips of construction paper and wove them into a 15″ x 15″ ‘canvas’, to which I applied gesso.  I like the bas- relief checkerboard pattern, but the time it took to put the surface  together makes an extensive application impractical

Forward progress ( and a nice piece ) came form the effort, but I need time to line up and run the ball again. Maybe I’ll break the next one for a score.

Action Versus Intent

April 2016 Blog-post

Welcome to  my Blog. I arrived to prison in 1997 at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me visit http://www.seanjwhiteartist.com

An acquaintance of mine recently returned to prison after a brief stint on the street. I see it with some frequency: A person makes plans before release, yet those plans must have a toxic chemical spill derailment to lead to a return.

The stories I hear never involve a serious derailment, usually only something as minor as stopping just a touch past the station platform. Something easily correctable. Yet instead of making corrections to a minor setback to one’s plans, those recently released from prison race away from salvageable plans until the train wrecks.

Successful plans adapt to setbacks.

On some level I’ve always wanted to be involved in the arts. My plans to want to make that a reality did not begin until 2006 when someone convinced me to try painting in oils( prior to that I had focused primarily on colored pencil). A beginning plan should consist of research, study, and practice. And then plan some more.

I thought I’d be further along ten years later, than I am. No one from the Guggenheim has yet contacted me. Nevertheless, I continue. Just because I haven’t succeeded to the level I want doesn’t mean I plan to give up.

On the contrary , my goals remain the same. If the train fails to make the station on time, I’ll have to do some more planning.

UNCLE

December 2015 -January 2016 Blog

Welcome to my blog. I arrived in prison in 1997 at the age of nineteen. I hardly knew what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artist with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me go to http://www.seanjwhiteartist.com

The Sparker of Growth

In my last post I discussed changes to Department of Corrections policy that will force me to alter my art practice. I received numerous suggestions and a lot of positive support. Thanks to those who responded.

Having had time to reflect I find myself ready to embrace the change.

Imagine going through life following the same routine, same methods. what does a person gain from pure repetition without change? Struggle leads to adaptation and adaptation leads to growth.

Although I can still continue my current methods for now, I have begun to experiment with the materials at my disposal. In the coming months I’ll share a few of my experiments. For now: no brushes , no problem . Let’s finger paint , everyone.

Image : Zeus Smite Someone, Anyone

 

 

 

How do I Adapt

November 2015 Blog (Almost)

Prisoners, I understand, have few entitlements. Privileges are exactly that, and nothing prevents prison authorities from ending any privilege at any time with the most whimsical of rationale. “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away”

I have spent the last ten years of my incarceration studying art — practicing with materials and techniques, looking at reproductions, reading about the ideas of artists and reading their theories. The focus transformed me from a person figuratively struggling to repay collection agencies a high interest debt to society into someone who contributes to society ( however small that benefit might be). I became an artist. I am an artist.

New policies by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections will drastically alter my vision. They have contracted with private corporations to provide the only arts and crafts materials  Wisconsin prisoners are allowed to purchase. The catalogs lack variety and have only a limited selection of quality merchandise . Visit these websites  to see for yourself( and perhaps issue a complaint on my and other inmates behalf):

• JLMarcusHobby.com
• wisconsinpackages.com
• wiinmatepackage.com

I have enough material to paint  twenty to twenty -five  more paintings and nine months in which to do it ( I will transfer to another prison summer of 2016 ). After that I must adapt ( because I will not be able to resupply with the materials I need).

But how do I adapt? I would like to hear from others. Any suggestions from the most obvious to the seemingly bizarre will help. Such a conversation will help me deal with the changes.  As I have written: Innovation cannot exist in isolation.

I Wish I Could Have Seen Kandor in Person

 

SEPTEMBER BLOG- Piece Work Art

September  2015 Blog Post

Welcome to my blog. I arrived in prison in 1997 at the age of nineteen. I hardly know what a blog is… I’m an emerging fine artistic with a burgeoning exhibition history. To learn more about me go to <www.seanjwhiteartist.com>.

Paper from Other Paper

Each December the art department at my high school would shut down for two weeks. Every art student would make construction paper caricatures, primarily characters form Sunday funnies– Garfield, Peanuts, etc.– though some reached greater complexity ( I recall rendering Daredevil with red and black paper in my half-remodeled bedroom listening to the Wisconsin Badgers beat Michigan State in Tokyo).   at the end of the two weeks every student and staff member would have his or her named assigned to one , and the caricatures would be hung throughout the school’s hall.

Prison necessitates adaptation to limitation. Rules permit colored paper, safety scissors, and glue ( an ambitious prisoner willing to violate rules could, in some security settings, break a safety razor open for its blade). I explored the collage technique. Eventually , I began to render portraits using solid planes separated by black lines( the paper beneath  them).

Then a problem appeared. All these scrap bits of paper piled up too small to make solid planes. In Interactions of Color Josef Albers suggests collecting scraps of paper. One exercise calls for a gray scale built utilizing collected scraps. Eureka ! As Archimedes reportedly exclaimed… Now, who the hell are you, and why are you interrupting my bath?

(Special thanks to Linda Robinson for introducing me to the collage concept.)

Collage portrait- Kathleen

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