The past slips from our grasp. It leaves us only scattered things. The bond that united them eludes us. Our imagination usually fills in the void by making use of preconceived theories…Archaeology, then, does not supply us with certitudes, but rather with vague hypotheses. And in the shade of these hypotheses some artists are content to dream, considering them less as scientific facts than as sources of inspiration.
-Igor Stravinsky, Poetics of Music in the Form – Six Lessons
I was looking through some older posts and came across the quote and painting above which caught my eye. It was probably because the painting, Archaeology: The Golden Age, was the last piece I had painted in the Archaeology series and may well be the last of that series.
It is one of those pieces that still live with me here in the studio, having never found a home. While I want it to find a place where it can satisfy someone other than myself, I am happy to have it here. From the time it was completed, I considered it one of the stronger pieces in the series. That might even be the reason it has continued to be the last in the Archaeology series.
Maybe the series had reached its potential, its endpoint, with this painting. I don’t know.
I also was captured once again by Stravinsky’s thoughts on the artistic process, how we use our imagination and what little knowledge we have to fill out the blank spots among our scattered fragments of memory to create something new. He equated it to archaeology which is a similar process, taking bits and pieces from the past and filling in the blanks with imagination and knowledge to create a theory of what might have been.
As he says archaeology does not supply us with certitudes. There are too many voids to fill before one can deal in absolutes.
And so it is with art. Art seldom deals in strict factual representation. Art comes together as a mixture of the facts of the work, the imagination and process of the artist, and the emotions and imagination of those who take it in.
It’s as much alchemy as it is archaeology.
Whatever it is, I am happy to deal in this strange world of imagination, one that often offers me more questions than answers.
Reading the older post this morning also reminded me of an old Jethro Tull tune that I haven’t heard or thought of in many years. Probably decades. Here’s a blast from the past, as the old AM deejays used to say. This is Living in the Past.
Have a good day.
Redtree Times 
“As much alchemy as archaeology” — I like that. I’ve often thought of the kaleidoscopic nature of writing; we take our bits of life, and give them a twist to create new patterns.
I like the idea of art as a kaleidoscope, as well. We’re just trying to put together bits and shards from what we know and remember in order to make something that makes sense in some way.
I am surprised that piece did not sell! It is wonderful and leads the imagination to all sort of possibilities.
I am sometimes surprised when certain pieces are slow to find a home, especially those, such as this one, that speak so strongly to myself. But finding someone who reads any painting in the same way or with the same enthusiasm sometimes takes time. But they usually find that person and that final home. All my best to you, Jackie. Hoping you have a happy and healthy new year.
Beautoful blog