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Frances Sniffen
My work is abstract and the intuitive approach reflects my creative process. I manipulate various materials to create forms that evoke mystery and the spiritual senses of the mind and body.
The biomorphic forms developed from a shape that suggested a living organism inherent with change and movement. The uniqueness and simplicity of the first form inevitably motivated their multiplication.
I like experimentation that will challenge my process and ideas into the unknown for new discovery and create the opportunity for surprise. As Eva Hesse stated, “I would like the work to be non-work. This means that it would find its way beyond my preconceptions. It is the unknown quality from which and where I want to go.”
My goal is to create or compose an idea that expresses the primal spirit with provoking elements that relate to life’s experiences.
John M. Adams
My work entices the viewer to become observant. This is not the kind of observation in which objects are given names and then are tucked neatly away in appropriate “cubby-holes” of our minds. Instead, this is the kind of observation that comes from being aware of what is happening at the moment of the encounter—visual meditation.
When elements lose their imposed names and meanings, we can truly observe. My process of making these drawings and paintings relies upon these moments when all of the mind’s chatter is silent and that I am no longer aware that I am painting. I am simply experiencing and reacting to what is happening at the moment. The repetitive action of moving the paint, drawing materials and text on the surface with my hands (similar in principle to a mantra) brings about a state of awareness in which any mark’s differences and similarities are nearly equivalent in distribution. The subtle variation of tone, value and intensity of color renders precise calculation futile, so peripheral perception takes over.
The repetitive, meditative action is reflected in the work through the accumulation of marks over a period of time varying from days to months. Tension between atmospheric random marks and the regulated rhythms of horizontal lines take the form of a drip, forming a counterpoint for the chaotic mark-making. Juxtaposing a textural, physical print surface with a slick, subtle panel may also form a tension which draws the viewer in. Sometimes, radio code and call numbers (made with bits of ham radio magazines from the mid 20th century) form a layer of atmosphere, teetering between abstract mark and letter or numeral.
Upon viewing the works for several minutes, the viewer may experience the shift to peripheral perception while “peeling” those layers away, as I did creating the works. This event fuses the art, process, object, experience and viewer into an inseparable, symbiotic whole.
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