Superpose

A dialogue between Ivanevid and Luc to accompany their online virtual exhibition, Superpose:

Luc: Ivanevid, I see parallels between your ongoing study of energy and the imagination in your art and my exploration of randomness and uncertainty in my own work. For me, unpredictability is a motivating factor. I want my art to surprise me. In your paintings, I interpret there to be a search for insight. Through making art, what have you intuited about energy, motion, and flow?

Ivanevid: Hi Luc, you're right, there are elements in our work that seem to pursue or share similar intentions, and that's something I really love. Even though we each have different goals, it makes a lot of sense to me when I apply it to my study of energy, which is exactly what I've discovered and intuitively explored through developing my art. For me, it comes down to the idea that everything in the cosmos is connected. As human beings, we may have different interests, tastes, or backgrounds, but in the end, we all live on the same planet and share the same space, which makes influence and inspiration inevitable. This is also how I understand the way major art movements have emerged simultaneously in different parts of the world. The events we experience collectively as a planet create similar effects in people, regardless of where we are. Now that you mention it, Luc, how have you found meaning in randomness? I feel there must be something in your work that seeks meaning within the random. What is that for you, and how did that search begin?

Luc: Yes, I have begun to find meaning in randomness itself because randomness is a universal experience. Everything has a particular relationship to chance, whether positive or negative. Plus, some things that are designed can appear random, and other things may seem ordered even though they are products of unpredictable processes. My approach to using chance to make art developed a few years ago when I realized that I had constructed systems for composing geometric abstract paintings in which any decision could work for me. So instead of making the decisions myself I started to leave them up to a random number generator. The results were more exciting to me than anything I could devise on my own. Your work with the concept of energy is also exciting. In your paintings, you interpret energy through colorful, overlapping, serpentine forms. These intersecting shapes often create a kind of transparency effect and depth that reminds me of X-ray images. The figures themselves also evoke many things for me, such as microscopic organisms and stratus cloud formations. How did you invent this refined visual vocabulary to express your thoughts and feelings about energy?

Ivanevid: ¡Órale!... I mean, Wow! I've been a designer for over 20 years, and I've always trusted randomness and spontaneous moments. But I never thought something random could sometimes be more meaningful than something carefully designed. The way you explained it really clicked with me. It actually reminds me of how I travel. I love visiting places people say there's "nothing to see." I go with no expectations and let the place surprise me. The same thing happens when I play saxophone—the best solos aren't the planned ones, they're the improvised ones. That really connects with my own work. I spent years searching for a visual language to express the forces of nature, but I only found it when I stopped chasing it. That's why I call it "Las Formas Que Vienen Por Mi”/“The Shapes That Come Through Me." It felt less like I created it... and more like it found me. So now I'm curious... how did you come up with a system that takes the choice of color out of your hands? That sounds like a story I'd love to hear.

Luc: I play the guitar a little myself, and my understanding of music also informs my visual art. But to answer your question, I have to admit that my invention of a method of working with randomness was analogous to your discovery of a language for conveying your experience of the forces of nature. It happened serendipitously, unintentionally. When I started painting in a hard-edge style several years ago, I didn’t set out to make art using chance, but I think I was unconsciously always on the lookout for it. My interest in spontaneity began in art school when I would make abstract expressionist paintings with both hands simultaneously. Anyway, at first I saw that the compositions of my early geometric paintings could have random aspects, and the arrangement of a limited palette of four colors could be randomized. Specifically, lines could go diagonally up or down according to chance, and it would look good either way to me. Dark and light colors could also arbitrarily switch places without any big difference in the quality of the piece. Recently, I have been able to expand the color schemes, but there is still a general element of choice. I don’t randomize across an infinite spectrum of colors, but rather I use a set of colors based on a theory of color that I have pieced together over time. This new evolution also seems to have happened haphazardly, but it may just be a logical development of the geometric system I have been exploring for a while. Returning to music, do you see other connections, in addition to improvisation, between playing the saxophone and your painting practice? For instance, do you ever consider color combinations in terms of chords or melodies? Or pictorial compositions like beat structures?

Ivanevid: I find it really interesting how our search for meaning through art has taken us in different directions, yet somehow led us to very similar places. The fact that we both found an answer that gave so much meaning to something we probably weren't even looking for at the time makes me think that the most important things often show up exactly when they're supposed to, not necessarily when we want them to. We just have to be aware enough to notice them instead of treating them like isolated events. Of course, we also have to stay active and engaged if we want to find them. I love that this conversation is becoming a little philosophical. We could probably spend days talking about this. The human mind never stops amazing me. And to answer your question—yes, there definitely is a connection between the way I play music and the way I paint, and between color combinations and melodies. Some of my paintings, or parts of them, are inspired by the feelings I get while making or listening to music. Now that I think about it, a lot of the variations in tones and shapes I create are actually structured like rhythms that become visual. In that sense, I experience music as energy—as air moving through waves and frequencies. By the way, Luc, about how many pieces did it take before you got to the point where you thought, 'Okay... I've got it. This system of randomness actually works!'?

Luc: I made a few hundred paintings over the course of three years, ranging from 6x6 inches on paper to 24x24 inches on canvas before it occurred to me to use a random number generator. But once I did, I felt right away that it had a lot of potential, and it immediately became part of my creative process. I am still testing this system to see how much it can handle. With how many colors and designs, and at what scales does this approach make sense? Almost every new painting indicates more possibilities. I am still waiting to hit the limit of this framework, the point at which it stops working for me, which I assume will eventually happen. In the meantime, though, I am enjoying the journey. Thank you so much, Ivanevid, for this brief conversation about our respective artistic practices. I agree, we could talk for a long time about this topic. But in this short time I think we successfully traced the general outlines of our individual visions and how they may relate to each other. Your finding inspiration in energy and my use of randomness are surprisingly similar but not the same. They both have a generative aspect, yet one implies a kind of necessity to things while the other suggests contingency. This indeed lies at the threshold of philosophical territory, so I will stop here for the viewer to proceed on their own, with the input of others such as art writers and critics, of course. Do you have any concluding thoughts, Ivanevid?

Ivanevid: A hundred paintings… that’s massive! Well, in a universe of infinite possibilities, I think this is a good place to leave it for now, my friend.  I’m truly happy we had the chance to share this virtual exhibition together and explore the ideas and inspirations that fuel our creative work. More than anything, it reminds me that the possibilities are endless—and that the mind and the heart have no limits when it comes to expressing themselves. Can’t wait for the day we get to share an in-person exhibition. I have no doubt our works would naturally spark a powerful conversation.  Thanks so much, Luc!