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ARTIST
STATEMENT
The Existential
Reality of the Visionary Mind
Charles S. Klabunde
July 1999
My art is the creative act of giving shape and form to the demonic and angelic
images that lie within the shadowland of our living essence; the unknown anxiety
of despair and meaninglessness in the face of our non-being. What draws me
to Icarus facing death ... God Pan in despair ...the Furies roaming the world in
a state of mental imbalance ... draws me to this abyss. What holds me at
bay is the existential realism of our non-being. The creative act is my
affirmation of being in the face of the abyss of nothingness. My work then
is an expression of Existential Realism.
Unlike fantasy art, existential realism does not rely on escaping the concept
of being for the idyllic sense of well-being. It is not an escapist act.
In entering the shadowland, the artist does not conceptualize what he wishes or
is known. Instead, he moves his vision beyond the collective consciousness
into the archetypal form of the collective unconsciousness, the undefined and
disturbing emotions, felt but unseen, and from these felt and unseen forms he
must create shapes and images that can be assimilated into understandable forms.
These images --- nightmarish, fantastical and terrifying --- may be beautiful
and mysterious, obscene or crude, but in all cases they create a certain
imbalance that reflects the anxiety of our collective selves. Their existence
demands a reflection of our meaninglessness, of the superficial reality that has
no affirmation of self in what we call the meaning of our lives. Thus,
these images draw us into the mystery of our unconscious being. If these
images are unsettling, they are meant to be. For if we do not acknowledge
the wonders of this unknown, abstract non-being world, we become like
sleepwalkers of our own delusionary dreams. If we negate our non-being, we
negate our being and our only hope for the affirmation of our potential self.
Knowledge is looking into the eye of the storm. Being and non-being is the
Janus face of our existence.
Existential Realism is not a recent phenomenon. It has always been with
us. It is the representation of the spirit world and gives solace to our
feelings of isolation, of our existential self, from the physical world around
us. Cave paintings, sculptures from Africa and New Guinea, are all
excellent examples of Existential Realism. These are part of the
existential realm in the concept of defining a reality of our non-being, the
void into which we all disappear. We draw on these forms for strength and
understanding. When we do not, estrangement from our physical world
becomes overbearing and a sense of hopelessness and despair prevails.
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