MICHAEL GUSTAVIUS PAYNE

In Search of A Hero

My medium of choice is usually oil paint but also other painting and drawing media. The direct nature of making a mark is hugely significant to my work and my understanding of the artistic process. Both stripping down the act of making to it's essentials, with little paraphernalia: Being direct and immediate while also intellectually drawing reference to our first artistic creations as a species and as individuals. I love the direct simple approach of mark making and creating something form combining marks. To do this in a meaningful manner is something that I find hugely compelling and rewarding.

I find directly explaining my work difficult and problematic, because each signifier has a number of possible meanings, depending on their context. For example, I often use the image of a dog as a kind of representation of human beings, in a more pure form, free from cultural superficialities, no interest in trends but still a pack animal, with strong bonds and a deep cultural heritage: The noble savage, from Cerberus to Gelert, both the beast of judgement and the loyal servant. To begin to explain work in this way seems to imply that this is the only significant interpretation. In truth, any interpretation is much more complex. Both my own experience and the viewer's experience also have a relevant effect. The meaning in my work is more about the question, than an answer: A reflection of the world as I see it. Both universal and intrinsically personal.

My work is generally concerned with the notion of a collective unconscious. A rhythm seen throughout human cultures via religion and mythology, referring to the psychologist assertion that myths, fairytales, folk lore and religion all originate in a place deep within the unconscious, allowing human beings to make sense of the world where there is no clear logic or empirical evidence. The renowned psychologist Carl Gustav Jung coined the term “archetypal symbolism” to refer to basic symbolic images and concepts that reoccur throughout human cultures. Archetypes help illustrate an essential, pre-dogmatic rhythm that has given meaning and value to human cultures as far back as can be measured.

I was raised as a Roman Catholic and although I no longer follow any religious faith, my work often borrows imagery and concepts from religion. My most recent body of work is principally concerned with the notion of the "hero" as an archetype, while questioning the understanding of the term "hero" as both demi-god and everyman. What is understood by the term “hero”? The son or daughter sent to a foreign land to kill and die for a cause they may not understand or believe in? The political leader who liberates a nation, by whatever means necessary? Or even a rock star, who “connects” with the audience? Jesus the carpenter and Christ the Saviour as the same man. An exhibition of my work exploring this theme, titled “A Bloke Called Hero”, was on show at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea from 8th April - 18th May, 2008.

I often borrow specific mythological characters and concepts, together with contemporary culture. Another series of my work on show at the Washington Gallery, Penarth from 3rd August 2008, is based on the Welsh myths found in the Mabinogion, focusing on the theme of giants and metamorphosis; Giants: Hugeness. Not only the idea of physical mass, but invulnerability, moral greatness: The archetypal hero, from Hercules to Christ, or King Arthur to Bendigeidfran. The reoccurring theme of the hero is retold throughout human cultures; the early display of greatness, the battle against the odds, the betrayal by a loved one and a final sense of immortality. Giants can also be representations of the beast; The mindless hulk, the formidable obstacle. An essential ingredient to the heroes greatness; The mountain to be tamed, the anti-hero. The darkness of the anti-hero is often expressed through the unknown, the underworld. Here we also find metamorphosis. A human becoming an animal, entering a world that is other.

If the hero represents the self, or consciousness, then metamorphosis or the animal represents the shadow, or unconsciousness. The place where our darkest secrets lie. Dormant. A place we cannot see or understand, but essential to our history and success as a species. The place where Adam first bit the forbidden fruit, as he lost his naivety and unwittingly became conscious, became human, as he realised his own nakedness and learned sin.

As a species we have always been unsatisfied with an unanswered question. Our tenacity often leads to dogma, bigotry and delusion in a quest for answers where no answers are apparent. Our tenacity has also taken us on journeys to the moon, given us power at the switch of a button and allowed us to speak from one side of the world to another. Our potential as a species seems to be unlimited, but like the naive child learning to crawl, walk and run, we appear to be in constant mortal danger, through our over confidence, indulgence and certainty of things we may never truly understand. As an individual and a member of an increasingly global society, I struggle with the apparent contradictions seen throughout our cultures. How the individuals who make our societies can at once claim righteousness, either politically or religiously, when no political system or religious belief has managed to claim total consensus. Does this mean that every political system and every religion is flawed? Could there ever be a perfect system or religion, a true utopia? Or is human kind's tenacious hunger for perfection, which has led to the moon and beyond, the final nail in the coffin, the final page in the book. This dark symmetry and finality has certain beauty of it's own: A beauty that sees human kind's place on this planet as perhaps the jewel in nature's crown, the brightest star; burning brighter but also quicker than all those before, extinguishing itself with it's own brilliance.

Despite the concepts that intrigue me and inform my work appearing quite huge, when making work my approach is quite modest. I often use archetypes and established signifiers as a starting point, allowing the work to develop on it’s own terms. Though sometimes, I will also begin a painting or a drawing as a series of marks, with no definite planned outcome. The purpose is to create a composition that “feels” right, together with the restraint and acknowledgement that “feelings” can often be misguided. In this suggested contradiction, between intellectual truth, delusion and intuition lies a tension that I find compelling as an artist; Constantly searching for freedom to express, while also questioning the validity of each mark and each artistic statement.

My role, as I see it, as an artist is to create work that has a level of beauty, through a pursuit for some kind of truth; A truth that should be honest but not exclusive. There is no ultimate statement. The works are questions, suggestions, perceptions. I hope that the viewer is encouraged to use their own intelligence, to make logical sense of things. As I see it, my response is only a small part of a perpetual conversation, in an ongoing quest of distillation.

Suggested introductory reading list:

Carl Gustav Jung: Man and His Symbols, 1964, Aldus Books.

Joseph Campbell: The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 1949, Princeton University Press.