What do torture and art have in common? When you work something over too much, it becomes a lie.
One brush stroke too many and you have a vivid fantasy that leaves nothing to the imagination and masks the vulnerability of the subject. All of a sudden the canvas is telling you what you want to hear, and handling your insecurities delicately like any good hooker would. One brush stroke too many is like the makeup and implants of the art world.
So if over-working something leads one further away from the truth, then I wonder where I'll be if I start with the bare minimum. I wonder if the uncomfortably minimalistic essentials will ultimately be a relief- like sleeping on the hard floor and waking up with a better back.
In art, saying too much is like not saying anything.
In life, too.
I don't want to spell it out for people who are interested in cliff's notes- asking someone else to tell them the story, asking me to explain my journey then suggesting ways in which I may make it more palatable for them, ways that will make the whole experience a flashy merri go round of bright colors and happy endings.
Isn't it the truth that the world is sometimes dim and the endings take something from us? Out of us? Isn't it true that we are ugly as much as we are not?
I would offer this as my reason, my explanation, my justification,
but that would defeat the purpose.
So I just offer this.
