A great many artists will tell you that it is essential to have a cull of your work regularly, in order to keep things fresh, but it is a very difficult thing to do. Earlier this year I met artist Mark Anstee who strongly feels that his work is temporary, and consequently, he culls regularly.
Yesterday I went to the excellent Abstract Expressionism exhibition at the Royal Academy and was delighted to see two photographs by Minor White included in the genre. I have known about Minor White for a while, he was a mentor for John Daido Loori who I admire very much (Lee Aspland introduced me to them both) but I had not seen any of his work in person.
The prints they chose were mesmerising and I realised in an instant that I had to cull my photographic work and concentrate on the simple, zen, abstract work that I do.
So this morning I have deleted hundreds and hundreds of pictures that I have taken this year. I have only kept the ones that made my heart sing when I saw them, and surprisingly most of them just evoked a ‘nah’ reaction – it wasn’t very difficult to do!
“One should photograph things not only for what they are, but also for what else they are.” Minor White
The featured image is “Broken, 2016”.
Ailsa Brims Art 