Jenny Sages

6 The compulsion to communicate our experiences as human beings on earth at any given time is universal. This creative impulse spans the beginning of time onto our own recent history. They are graphic records that link us to our distant past. Cave painting, petroglyphs, groups of stones, all cross cultural records, saying this is who we were when we were here. Early writing which began about five thousand years ago, survives as cuneiform indentations in clay and hieroglyphs painted on the walls of tombs or carved into stone; whether they were for communion with the gods or simple communication, the creative work left behind have evolved into the art forms we know today. My own concerns are drawn from experiences and observations on daily life fueled by what I read, everything from religion to science to poetry, art history and anything else that comes my way - they are prodded by a strong belief that matters of import are in a constant state of flux, continually open to question and reassessment in the light of current experience. My work is generally propelled by anxiety - what I do is never preconceived, I work and rework surfaces scratching for images that I didn’t know I knew - recognition often eluding me only to reemerge much later. To quote a remark made by composer and artist John Cage to Phillip Guston in the fifties - “When you are working Cage said everybody is in your studio - the past, your friends, the art world, and above all your own ideas - all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone, then if you are lucky even you leave.” Jenny Sages