My inspiration for design comes from anything unusual. I am spurred on by the most bizarre creations, both natural and contrived. The two designers I want to talk about are from different continents and a century apart.
Antoni Gaudi was born in Catalonia in 1852 and died 1926 in Barcelona. His late work is described as Art Nouveau, a ‘manifestation of Expressionism’. In my view the buildings of Expressionism were really quite uniformly constructed, eg., his ‘Casa Mila’ has the same views and perspectives from many angles. The ‘Casa Mila’ is a great stone sculpture consisting of flowing curves with organic undulating edges – I agree with the statement that Gaudi made, that the straight line belonged to men and the curved one to God. Living shapes were always present in his designs; bones, wings, muscles, clouds, petals, caves and stars. I think the beauty of ‘Casa Mila’ is that it captures that childhood image we all have of fairytale castles. It has a beautiful warmth, created by the deep curves and swells of the façade, the intimacy of the wrought-iron lace fronting the balconies. Even the chimney pots on the roof are grouped in close family-type clusters, with the odd individual standing off on their own.
Alex Janvier was born in 1935 on the Le Goff Reserve in Alberta. He was one of the first Canadian Native artists to be trained in a professional art school. He was the first Canadian Native artist to embrace abstraction. A small group, including Alex Janvier, pursued abstraction as a means to solve iconographic problems.
Influenced by Klee and Kandinsky, he developed an abstract style which expressed the rhythm of the Alberta landscape with elements of traditional bead and quill work, and hide-painting. He used allusive titles such as, ‘The True West’. He continually contrived to create political parallels to confront the rigid controls that Native American and Canadians existed within. He also signed his works with his treaty number. The design I have chosen by him has a great fierceness about it; so tight and sharp in the centre, spacious and flowing in the outer areas. I see faces in it: a robotic alien; a baby; the breasts of two women facing each other. According to the reviewer, it is reminiscent of Plains shield-painting – I can see how this use of colour and bold design would frighten off nervous enemies. I would like to use this type of design to paint glass or silk. People would notice me in a long white coat with: dominant black lines, filled-in areas of red, blue, yellow, orange, dark green, pale blue….red and vibrant orange.
Both of these artists had to fight for the right to express their creativity in their own original ways. The similarities between them comes from their use of homeland and natural surroundings, incorporating elements of culture and nature. Gaudi experimented with texture and colour, using materials in new ways. Janvier used the palette of his ancestors to create abstract works of art. To me, the only difference between them is the dimensions of their creations. I am inspired by their work.
