Arno Morland
As a young man, I had no mind to occupy myself with trivial practicalities. Instead of doing something sensible and useful when I finished school, I went off to study Psychology, Philosophy and Theology. I spent six years asking big questions and drawing speculative stipple-lines around their shadows. There was nothing half-hearted about my efforts but when I stood back to admire the fruits of my labours, I was no longer sure that I had really traced anything at all. Fortunately for me, there is a field of human endeavour that not only allows for the exercise of such quixotic impulses, but positively makes a virtue of it. It is the perfect fit for those who run blind. And so it was that I fell back into the arms of Art.
In those days I was a prolific generator of flops and, in this respect, the following years were certainly productive. I clearly didn’t know what I was doing and I felt pretty good about that. It was proof, I told myself, that I couldn’t possibly be in control (in Art, that’s suppose to be a good thing). Amidst the accumulating flops, I also studied Painting and Art History. Eventually something somewhat interesting peeped out behind all this messy endeavour and I was offered my first solo exhibition. It was a big moment for me. I suddenly felt far less awkward calling myself an “artist”. Looking back it was probably the moment I really became one; when I truly discovered what kind of tree I was growing up to be.
In the years since then I have dabbled in Business and Tertiary Education, but I have never let go of Art’s hand. There have been more exhibitions, an MFA degree and many years living in other countries and continents. I confess to being an inveterate tinkerer. When they are seated together at the dinner table, it is sometimes hard to believe that all my different paintings and sculptures are brothers and sisters. To me, this seems perfectly natural. In my meandering course upon the crust of this good earth, I have had many experiences and made many inquiries. It has changed me. A lot. It still does. It wouldn’t be right if the things I’ve made didn’t tell that story.
I have been engrossed in the challenges and delights of painting for many years. Done right, painting is like having a long conversation with someone much, much wiser than you. In recent years however, I have also come under the spell of sculpture. It’s crazy that such things should exist among us! How could you possibly be against them?
So anyway, here I am, decades after that first solo show - the moment I first felt like a real “artist” - inevitably a little more grown up, but still hunting big game with my toy gun.
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