I'm always looking for unique and meaningful surfaces that can be painted. Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the drum.
It's a simple enough shape - many artists have used the circle as an alternative to the usual square or rectangle canvas. But the stretched skin of the drum is a little different for paint, compared to stretched canvas.
But the drum can carry much more meaning as well, for culture and for the association with rhythms and sounds. The sense of hearing is very different from the sense of sight.
As a visual artist, I tend to think in colours and in shapes. I rely on visual insights in order to connect to people or to the land or to the natural world. But there is just as much going on in the world of sound.
Would colour and shape mean the same thing to the ear as they do to the eye?
I painted the drum in this photo while thinking about Turtle Island, and about creation.
Yakoterthway'en
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