Art critic Marina Khaikina and psychoanalyst Andrey Rossokhin examine one painting and tell us about what they know and what they feel. What for? So that, (not) agreeing with them, we are more clearly aware of our own attitude towards the picture, the plot, the artist and ourselves.
“It seems that the painting is floating, changing”
Marina Khaikina, art critic: “In the work of Pollock, the main thing was the process of the birth of the picture, the very moment of creativity. It is he who is a work of art, and the picture is its result, a memory of it. Initially, the painting had only the number 1 (at this time, Pollock called his works by numbers); The name “Lavender Mist” was coined by art critic Clement Greenberg for its elegant and subtle combination of tones, which creates a sense of haze. Despite the fact that there is not a drop of lavender paint among the smoky gray, black, reddish-brown, silver, white and lead-blue shades of the painting, the artist adopted the second name.
For Pollock, who admired the sand painting of the American Indians, creativity was akin to a shamanic ritual. Dancing, Pollock moved with a brush with paint on the surface of the canvas in his own rhythm. Gestures and brush movements picked up the rhythm. It is embedded in the picture, in a seemingly random alternation of drops, spots and lines, it is read by the viewer, it hides the mood and dynamics of the work. It seems that painting floats, changes, lives. And, like an ancient cave artist, Pollock “signed” Lavender Mist “with his handprints.”
“In each of us lives a pagan “I”
Andrey Rossokhin, psychoanalyst: “Lavender mist” reminds me of ancient cave paintings. I imagine that I am in a cave, in the center of which a fire is lit, and reddish reflections walk along its walls, covered with drawings. I immerse myself in the picture, and it begins to come to life. The smoke from the fire in the cave is like fog. Fog is something that changes or cancels reality, something that creates space for images and fantasies, for any projections of our unconscious. Pollock’s painting does not have a realistic level – the artist basically refused to paint any reality, he entered into an altered state of consciousness, similar to a shaman’s.
It is believed that shamans speak with the spirits of nature, the spirits of animals. I see this connection a little differently: shamans (like all ancient people) projected their fears, desires, expectations onto the forces of nature and then established a dialogue with these personified forces of nature (for example, they asked the spirit of the mountain to help in hunting, cast spells, made sacrifices) . That is, in fact, shamanistic rituals are internal dialogues with some parts of oneself (with one’s inner father or one’s Shadow). In fact, this, from my point of view, was what Pollock was doing. Through the paintings, he tried to engage in a dialogue with the archaic content of his unconscious. He painted something, as he said, coming “from within himself.”
The picture awakens the pagan “I” living in us, which is connected with nature and interacts with it. It opens the door to the archaic layers of our psyche, but does not frighten, but, on the contrary, awakens curiosity. We peer into the fog, but we are not yet in it. However, this door is open, and by immersing ourselves in Pollock’s painting, we can enter the foggy cave of our unconscious.
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) – American artist, leader of abstract expressionism. The first exhibition of Pollock’s work in 1948 was a sensation and a huge success. In 1949, Life Magazine named Pollock the greatest American artist.