“Painting
for me is a journey into the unknown – about traveling
and being nourished to go further. An inquiry into what is
and what might be; combined with a sense of love and fascination
for this vast sea of life and its limitlessness of form and
consciousness”
-John Swingdler, Nov. 1991
|
Form,
Technique and Principles:
Although
John Swingdler refuses to classify his painting into any specific
form or philosophy there are certain subtle and wonderful parallels
in his works to that of the ancient Hindu philosophy of Tantra.
The path of Tantra focuses on the expanding concept of the self.
It allows an individual to see the significance and insignificance
of him or her self in the outer universe as well as the universe
within – in short, the emergence of equality between microcosm
and macrocosm. More specifically, Swingdler's work is representative
of an art movement that is just starting to surface in the west
known as “Neo-Tantra.” The term “Neo” serves
to distinguish the more freely and individually expressive contemporary
works from the traditional images which are grounded in ancient
rituals. As one sees in his paintings and drawings, John’s
works are ethereal and present, precise and mathematical, realistic
and imaginary and most of all mystical. These qualities are particularly
evident in Swingdler’s paintings. Gallery owner Solomon Dubnick
says that John’s oils:
|
“Utilize
delicious color and surrealistic abstraction to transform his
imagery from the mathematical to the metaphysical. There is
a profound mystical quality to his still lifes. Objects float
in phenomenal space and exude their own sources of light and
energy. A school of fish becomes a geometric pattern, buoyant
in a shimmering sea of color. Within the borders of his dreamscapes
we glimpse a visionary invocation to look beyond the surface
of all that lies before us. To see from within the mystery of
our world. An invitation to listen closely.”
|
|
|
In
an entirely different medium, John’s pencil drawings are
a profound exploration into the mystical and earthly aspects
of the male and female psyche. Of his works “Anastasia”
and “Night Traveler” he says that they represent efforts
to spiritually “embrace” his own male and female aspects,
exploring the cosmic unity of opposites. In Tantra this idea
is expressed as “Sa’ham (’I am She’) or
So’ham (‘I am He’), for ‘there is no difference
between Me and Thee.’” John continues by saying, “Most
of my work deals with male and female energies and how they
relate to the world and one’s own experience. Until I embrace,
and become responsible for the male and female within myself,
I can’t act as a whole person. It’s a matter of unifying
my own opposites, seeing them not in opposition but as complimentary.
It is the tension of opposites that pulls us apart and the acceptance
and full embrace of opposites that allows for creation to take
place.”
|
Biographical
Information:
John
was born in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1950. He says, ”My painting started
off with music, because as a child I studied music more than art.
I spent most of my time practicing and playing the piano. When I reached
the age of fifteen I started to become more interested in the visual
arts and began to draw quite a bit.”
John
went to college at Washington University in St Louis (1968 -1971)
to study drawing. While there, he met the master visionary painter
and stained glass artist Rodney Winfield, who became John’s first
major teacher and mentor. After leaving school, John traveled and
studied throughout Europe, Mexico, India and Afghanistan. During this
same period of time he was a major illustrator, designer, and creative
consultant for the Bhakitvedanta Book Trust, a large publisher of
Vedic literature. Another influence on his style was the Indian master
artist and craftsman Kripal Singh, whom he studied with in 1974 and
1975.
|
Highly
acclaimed visionary artist Morris Graves has also had a major
impact on John’s creative life. It was after seeing, at
the age of fifteen, Graves series of paintings of “Spirit
Birds” that John decided to become a painter. John says,
“he (Graves) opened my heart and vision to a broader sense
of beauty on all levels.” After establishing his home and
studio in Eureka California in 1978, John discovered that Morris
lived and painted nearby. They soon met and became great friends
and allies. Graves saw Swingdler’s strength as a painter
to be in “his great aesthetic sensibility… depth and
breadth of awareness of the miracle and magic of consciousness
- and a artist’s discipline fully evident in his craft.”
When asked if he thought there were any similarities between
his work and John’s, Graves answered, “Yes, our paintings
are mirrors reflecting a particular facet of our minds and spirits."
|
|
John
still lives in Eureka, with his wife, Liz & daughter Chrisy.
© Michael Dennison 2002
"From
Pure Joy springs all creation,
By Joy it is sustained, towards Joy it
Proceeds and to Joy it returns"
Tantra
|
