Interview with Harry Stooshinoff, by Camilla Cannon, The New School of Art, UK

The New School of Art, UK, with Harry Stooshinoff


Thank you, Camilla, for the great work you've done on this! There are many great interviews on the blog, and it's well worth spending time on the site, looking and reading carefully, all that you've assembled!

www.harrystooshinoff.com  

Lost Lake

 

.....remembering a long lost summer. These are the first 2 works based on memories of Emma Lake. There will likely be more in this short series of memory pieces, and more based on Emma Lake.

 

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May, On Crocus Hill

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...

May, On Crocus Hill
...I would climb the stoney hills all afternoon, armed with the little hammer my brother made in metal-shop class, and pretend I was a geologist. Acrylic collage on heavy archival paper 11 x 14 inches, images size 9.75 x 9.75 inches.

I've made so many things over the years. I made some things similar to this even as an undergrad. Those early paintings still inform everything I do in that the work is based on shape, colour and edge interaction. Colour is more or less applied flatly, and interaction of colour is paramount. There's no such thing as detail...something is either essential, or you can do without it.

And of all the things I've tried, I don't think I really discarded anything. Although I've left many styles behind, parts of my process or method resurface later. And many things coexist. This happened yesterday,....and today I made a more representational view....
 

Ridge

 

I use various starting methods and reference methods to make my pictures. This one is based on a memory, with no visual aid or reference in front of me. Works such as these tend to be more abstract in nature, and perhaps deal more strongly with mood creation....colour interaction is always key in the work.

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Heat of Day

“No good to paint in the head – what happens is what happens when you put the paint down – you can only hope that you are alert – ready – to see. What joy it is for paint to become a thing – a being. Believe in this miracle – it is your only hope. To will this transformation is not possible. Only a slow maturation can prepare the hand and eye to become quicker than ever. Ideas about art don’t matter. They collapse anyway in front of the painting.”
~ Philip Guston, November 23rd, 1978.

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Heat of Day
...at midday during a heat wave, it's tolerable only in the tree shade....another great reason to love every tree you see. Acrylic collage painting on heavy archival paper 11 x 15 inches, image size 9.5 x 12.25 inches.

A New Series of Ink Drawings

 

These India ink drawings are a bit of a new direction. I call them 'Chances' because they are almost completely unplanned. There is always a searching for something, but in these, the search takes only 5-10 minutes...then you search again. They are even more improvisational than my other things. The hand is continually moving, and I move quickly from one drawing to the other. They are produced on old pages from an old illustrated encyclopedic volume from the early 1800s....the paper has a great deal of rag content in it, and there are wonderful engraved illustrations on each page (the volume's binding was in poor condition, otherwise I would have sold it rather than taken it apart).

I want to make many of these, so I want them to be inexpensive. It's a bit like automatic writing......with certain design considerations imposing themselves seamlessly upon the task.......

The book page paper is 7.5 x 11 inches. The drawings are completed first, and then they are laminated to heavy archival paper, in this case 9.5 x 13 inches. Signed lightly in pencil lower right, H. Stooshinoff, 2016.

As of July 8/2016, Canada Post labour negotiations continue and there will be no disruption of service for the next month. In the event of a later Canada Post walkout or strike, your purchase within Canada and the USA will be shipped by Purolator Ground and will reach you in a very timely fashion. Purchase with confidence!

I am adding 2 of these drawings to my selling sites each day, over the next week or so. If you don't see them all in the active listings section, please look in the sold file!

www.harrystooshinoff.com   

June End

June End (Sold)
...maturing wheatfields....evening, the last day of June. Acrylic on unprimed Whatman paper 10 x 13.75 inches, image size 9 x 12.5 inches.

Information from my wife, the plant expert. When you have a drought, plants will mature and produce seed earlier...it is their attempt to secure their survival by producing offspring. They are not healthy, but rather stunted,...but they have produced seed....so the next generation can have a go.....

www.harrystooshinoff.com