James Saldivar at Melinda Martinez Studio and Gallery review
James Saldivar
The New, The Old Work & the Artist
"A Need for a Reinvestigation of the Past"
by: Gabriel Diego Delgado
San Antonio artist, James Saldivar recently opened a new exhibition, “Echoes”, at Melinda Martinez, which consists of a potpourri of old, new, and experimental paintings. On display is a collection of paintings that gives off an artistic reverberation of previously explored aesthetics. 20 plus paintings comprise all avenues of painterly/ sculptural exploration – from his abstract pouring techniques to the 3-D string paintings and his signature stripe paintings.
However, one collection of new abstractions is the highlight of the exhibition. Measuring no larger than 12 inches square each, five abstracted pours and autonomous manipulations pack a big ‘cosmic’ punch in a small package. These Organics, as he calls them, are actually reinvestigations and reevaluations of his previous abstract artwork from circa 2008 when he was beginning to explore metaphysical properties of subconscious creation; nonfigurative manifestations that were initially inspired by NASA captured images of the mysterious Universe.
Saldivar explains this regression as a need to revisit where he left off.
“This series is a compilation of the past few years where I've lost my way trying to fill the space in between, usually filled with irrelevances. Something I'm searching for and realized I've gone off of my own path and where I'm at now, my sense of being, my sense of enlightenment, my freedom, not in a political sense but how nothing has control over my happiness, my career, or my education.
These painting were created in my new gallery/ studio, obtained by the need to change my energy. …Energy from a metaphysical standpoint, the action of setting my chakras back in balance and creating a new space, my temple to create again and to deny the mental block handed down by negativity.”
Not everything is on a smaller scale. “Laniakea” is a 36” x 36” oil and enamel on panel that illustrates a calming sensibility with a neutral and subdued palette of badious earth tones. Milky cascades of icteritious lava flow into the foreground, meeting the viewer with an off-the-edge composition, bringing the experience into our physical proximity.
“There’s something that happens in the process, where my subconscious speaks to me and lets me know what's happening. I try not to control my work. I have control over placement but once that's done, I don't, and it becomes its own entity,” he says.
Mostly self-taught, Saldivar has explored various avenues of contemporary work, trying to find a unique voice to call his own. From Jackson Pollock inspired drip paintings, to Morris Louis striped pouring, to cosmic abstractions to his newly discovered 3-D string “paintings”, it is good to see Saldivar reconnect with his past and continue to explore his older work with new eyes. His more mature outlook, his scholarly studies and personal life experiences are bringing new life to his artistic vision. No longer is he being influenced by his peers, a trap we all fall into, but he is allowing room for personal growth and unedited exploration.
“Floating 1, 2, 3, and 4” are four paintings which show evidence of this rounding the bend. These 12” x 12” paintings are miniature abstractions. Using the viscosity of the thinners, paint, and mediums, Saldivar shows movement across the canvas with the paint fraternizing in pools of coagulation. Frozen in time, these paintings become more and more serine as you begin to categorize them as meditative samplings; a kind of artistic granule hour glass, paint funneled, moving to the other side by way of unseen force.
“Abstract work to me must be free; the universe must still be able to exist in the work. I do have more control than I want. I don't mean to, want to, or even know I do…..I've been controlling the work spiritually, with the universe. I am just another medium,” he concludes.
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