Artist Statement: Mine, like countless others, is a meditative practice. It is challenging to be engaged in the work without it being influenced by the current events that presently invade our every moment. That is not to say that my work is not in response to these events, rather it is my way of negotiating my day-to-day in how much I want to direct my attention to those things, that are really temporary in nature, and instead focus on those things that have always governed my involvement.
My work, for over thirty-five years, has been concerned with things of a timeless and universal import. And these concerns have been manifested in various materials, and formal facture, via forms, shapes, suggestion, and restrained applications of process and intent.
As I have traveled, I have been arrested and affected by how other cultures address their built environment. While we at times would rather tear down and re-build, many cultures, perhaps out of respect, necessity and practicality, restore and reinforce what exists. The knowledge required to do so being taught and passed on over the course of time, is part of a value system and way of thinking that I keep in mind when in the studio.
Based on these observations, my collages and wall-bound and free-standing assemblages are additive (rather than subtractive) in their process of becoming. My intent is to produce objects of an artifactural and architectural nature, that recognize what may have survived and been restored, and moreover, are indicative of skill, function, purpose, and perhaps ritual.
Ultimately, my goal is to produce and offer to a potential viewer an object worthy of prolonged study and reflection. My desire is to provide this viewer an opportunity for a contemplative viewing experience...and for seeing.
- John Fraser, 2020
Image: John Fraser
