September 2010
Wayne Allan
'Narrative Works'
Whenever I write about my own art, I’m reminded that Isadora Duncan once said that if she could describe her dance or explain it, she wouldn’t need to dance it. I feel much the same way about my work. I don’t want to tell you what to look for or what I thought I was doing, because I would like you to interpret the work, rather than have me guide you in a particular direction.
I will say that I am fascinated by certain mythic figures that have appeared repeatedly in works of art over the centuries. Representing such images makes me feel a kinship with other artists who have preceded me. Significant recurring figures in my work include various representations of the Madonna, along with angels and shamans. Stones and all the symbolism associated with them also feature prominently.
The Swedish film-maker, Ingmar Bergman, expresses poignantly and powerfully my major concerns:
It is my opinion that art lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship. It severed an umbilical cord and now lives its own sterile life, generating and degenerating itself....if I am asked what I would like the general purpose of my films to be, I would reply that I want to be one of the artists in the cathedral, on the great plain. I want
to make a dragon’s head, an angel, a devil—or perhaps a saint—out of stone. It does not matter which; it is the sense of satisfaction that counts. Regardless of whether I believe or not, whether I am Christian or not, I would play my part in the collective building of the cathedral.
The art I make is my contribution to the cathedral.
