Falling in love with buildings: an interview with Aidan Walsh
by Carol Brown
Durban Editor Carol Brown spoke to painter Aidan Walsh on the occasion of his latest exhibition at the KZNSA.
Carol Brown: 'Prayers, Dreams and Memories' consists mainly of buildings and deserted landscapes. What interests you in these images?
Aidan Walsh: I love deserted buildings and landscapes as I find them haunting and poignant. I feel that they still have a human presence even after the people have left. The stones become even more interesting when the human presence is invisible.
CB: For how long did you work on this exhibition?
AW: It's difficult to be exact, as an exhibition begins in your head long before you actually start working on the canvas. It begins with the gathering of material. For me this has been through travelling to remote places and of course, exploring Durban. The actual painting happened over two and a half to three years. I do work very slowly.
CB: Your buildings are very detailed and architectural. Have you ever studied architecture?
AW: As a child I was very interested in architecture and I had collections of books which I studied and read. I read avidly as a child and still do. It is possible that I could have become an architect - or an archaeologist - if I had not become a painter. And I know that my interest in both has coloured my work.
CB: How did you start in the art world?
AW: I have always been involved. Even as a child I painted and drew, and, of course, as I got older my interest became more and more intense. We didn't have art at school so I went to private classes on Saturday mornings and then to art school.
CB: Were you always a painter or did you work in other media?
AW: I think of myself as a painter first, but I have done numerous other things like ceramics, costume and set design for theatre. And, of course, I taught art at high school for numbers of years.
CB: You promoted other artists while you ran your own gallery for many years. Did you learn anything from this and when did you start painting seriously?
AW: I learned a lot from this. You cannot help but be influenced by other people and their work. Other people's experiences brush off on you. The wider your experience, the richer your imagination. I can see how I have been influenced by Gauguin, Botticelli and Velasquez, though this might be a surprise to others. One never stops learning. Nadine Gordimer's words about writing - '... you cannot be a writer without being a reader. There is only one school, read, read, read. See what the possibilities of the word are' - translate for me to looking at other painters.
I feel strongly that students should see all the exhibitions.
I have always painted seriously but while running my own gallery my time was horribly restricted. It was after my three month stint in Paris that I decided to take the plunge and paint full time. Paris gave me the chance to work every single day and I proved to myself that I could sustain the pace. In the process I did sufficient work for an exhibition on my return.
CB: Do you work from photographs?
AW: Yes, but, as has been pointed out to me many times, seldom from good photographs. They can be out of focus and the subject almost incidental in scale, because what I need is simply a starting point. I keep the details of light and shade and structure in my head. In fact a photo that was perfect might be a hindrance as there might be little to add.
I manipulate the information in the photographs - often using several for one composition. And I add other information from life and from drawings.
CB: Your light and colour use are not always naturalistic. Do you use colour to express emotion?
AW: Painting is a translation, not a copy. I somehow feel my colour is realistic, though, naturally, I heighten some and play down others and alter detail and fact. A painting is not a reproduction of something but it is its own reality. Which, I suppose, answers the second part of the question. One does not set out to express this or that abstract idea. You try to make something visible from the information you have gathered. In the end, however, the facts are less important than what they express. And this, ultimately, is the reason for making a painting.
CB: Is South Africa and the South African landscape important to your work, or do you feel that you work has a meaning which transcends the local?
AW: My starting point always is from a real experience of what I have seen. Certain parts of the country have a greater resonance for me than others. The desolation and emptiness of the west coast for example appeal greatly. I often wonder if this is an antidote to the lush tropical world I live in every day in Durban.
CB: What attracts you to a particular building?
AW: I am not interested in the general but in the particular, and so I am only attracted to buildings that, for me, at least, have a particular ambience and atmosphere. If I don't fall in love with them, they would not be worth painting.
CB: Although you do not depict people you suggest a human presence in some of your paintings by using statues and other-worldly figures. Do you ever use the human form realistically? What do these figures mean?
AW : I have used the figure realistically in my recent works. I have used nomadic figures - usually naked - wandering unhindered through a landscape devoid of fences and boundaries. I feel that people should be free of restrictions, both physically and in their minds and spirit. Without the migrations of people over millions of years the world could not have developed the diversity it has. The nomad is a symbol of freedom, independence and strength.
CB: Prayer is a theme running through the exhibition. Can you discuss this?
AW: Prayer was important in my upbringing and I know it has a certain power. My recent experiences have greatly affected me and shown me that this is so.
CB: What are you planning next?
AW: When I have gathered my thoughts, I will carry on painting. I would like to exhibit elsewhere in the country.
Walsh's exhibition closed on April 20
