PAUL TRINIDAD

Artists Statement:
Paul Trinidad

MATRIX II
Spirit + Cosmology
Cullity Gallery August 26 - September 7

This exhibition of works on paper follows Matrix Tw(o)rigins held at the Sudakara Art Space in Sanur Indonesia 26 July - 26 August 2013.  The exhibition in Sanur celebrates works produced during my residency at BatuBelah Art Space (BBAS) in Klungkung.  For exhibition Suklu (I Wayan Sujana) and I worked together on concepts of spirituality, geology and cosmology interconnecting my Perth based practice with his Bali practice.

In September 2012 Suklu was in Perth, Artist in Residence in the ISACFA cultural exchange program between FSRD (Faculty Seni Rupah dan Dessain) ISI Denpasar and ALVA (Architecture Landscape and Visual Arts) UWA Perth.  During the time of his residency Suklu encouraged me to join in collaboration between two cultures, two practices and two philosophies.

Suklu is a spiritual man.  His spirituality is embedded in his Hindu beliefs and heritage that he deeply loves.  I would not describe myself as a spiritual man, however, I noticed after meeting Suklu, there are many parallels in our work and philosophy.

Suklu encouraged my explorations of the subconscious mind through drawing and working on projects together. We worked together in Ancient Rock Studio (ARS) Byford to develop the nucleus of a deeper exploration.

The corner stone of Suklu’s philosophy is the belief that if one is in harmony with life, only good can come from it.  This is especially so for his art practice 1.

Suklu’s practice is based on the principles that great art will come from spontaneous action. Action connects directly from the subconscious to reality using drawing as the matrix.

I had experienced a similar state around 20 years ago with the Serious Ink Men project. This was a graphic project which culminated with a performative exhibition at the Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) in 1992.  In this project I created around 1,000 spontaneously drawn printing plates and blocks, many of which were printed in the FAC during the exhibition.

I have responded to Suklu in this project by drawing with charcoal, charcoal and wash and then later with ink in the manner which Suklu exposed me too during his residency at ArtLAAB and ARS.

1. ISACFA International Studio for Art and Culture FSRD and ALVA
2. Tri Hita Karana. Translates as the Three Causes to Prosperity, bringing about harmonious relationships: Human to God, Human to Human, and Human to Nature.