We recently connected with Clinton Whiting and have shared our conversation below.
Clinton, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
A couple of years after graduate school, as a professional artist, I created and curated a project called “Art in the Home”. The purpose being to put original fine art in the hands of families who under normal circumstances could not afford original fine art. I believe in the power of art to inspire and influence our lives for good, but it can be very expensive. The goal of “Art in the Home” was to get art on the walls and make inspiration possible. So I gathered a list of 14 artist friends who were willing to donate three small works each. I created a catalog of the available paintings and sculptures and carried it with me at all times. When I met someone who had an interest in the arts I asked them if they would like to participate in the project, and if so they looked through the catalog and chose a work. In exchange for the artwork they had to live with the work on the wall for one month, fill out a questionnaire describing their experience and give the artist something personally meaningful as a trade for the artwork. After a month of living with the artwork, filling out the questionnaire, and making the trade, all three items would go on display at a gallery in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.
The project took a few months of planning and finding people to participate. Once I had found suitable homes for all the donated artwork, I collected all the items and displayed them in the Rio Gallery. We had a reception for the artists, the participants and the public. The project went better than I could have expected. The exhibit looked fantastic on the walls of the gallery. Participants were able to meet the artists, share thoughts and feelings of how the art enhanced their home and affected their lives. The most remarkable part of the experience was learning about the sacrifices the participants made in giving up the objects they chose. In some cases participants gave cherished family heirlooms, and seemingly insignificant objects that in reality were full of meaning. One family gave a simple plush emoji pillow. That symbolized the text messages their father would send them as he was battling terminal illness. Giving the memory of their father’s love was a powerful sacrifice. In all cases connections were made between people who were previously strangers.
In my wildest dreams I didn’t imagine that the participants’ sacrifice would have been so great.
In creating the project my expectation was that having original artwork hanging on the wall of your home would bring creativity and sophistication to the participating families, and this would be the most significant aspect of the project. Once complete I realized it was all about connection. When we put objects and images on our walls that we have a connection with we enhance the experience of living, but it is still importantly tied to the real world relationships we cultivate.
This realization has been monumental in my evolution as an artist. Every project I have made since “Art in the Home” has been about connection. And looking back on the artwork I created before “Art in the Home’ I realize my work has always been about connection.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a multidisciplinary figurative artist who works with the theme of relationships and connection. In 2007 I received a bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts from the University of Utah, and subsequently in 2012 a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, in Rome Italy. I Create artwork inspired by modernist processes and aesthetics. I have exhibited my artwork in notable exhibits in North America and Europe. I was born, live, and work in Holladay City, Utah.
I began painting and drawing in my youth like most kids do, but for reasons beyond my control I never stopped. I have always felt compelled to make art. My parents recognized this desire and found opportunities where I could learn and develop greater skill. They enrolled me in painting classes from local teachers and encouraged me to submit my work in competitions. My skills were decent but more importantly my desire to create was constant. Occasionally I would stay home on weekends to make art instead of hanging out with my friends. For a teenager this was a big deal. I didn’t tell them I was sitting at home drawing, I just told them I couldn’t go out.
After high school I studied painting and drawing at the University of Utah. I had many great professors who gave me a solid foundation in how to paint, as well as some clues into what to paint. After four years of university training I needed more. I loved art history and studying the lives of artists. A few of my heroes went abroad to develop skill and knowledge, and I loved the idea of seeing the world and learning from everything the world had to offer. I did some travel in South America, Mexico, and Europe and I loved it all. I decided I needed to live in Europe to really extend my experience and artistic vision. I studied for three years and received a Masters of Fine Arts from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, in Rome Italy. This experience helped me go outside of myself and see an art world steeped in tradition and philosophy very different from the one in the western United States.
As a result of my experiences, I love exploring the compositional capabilities of the human form and how it affects the inherent narrative of the image. As humans we tend to project the idea of “story” on images of human beings. I enjoy this aspect of our nature, and I love the variation individuals see. My overall goal in creating compositions is to speak to the idea of connection. In particular the unspoken intangible connections people cultivate with one another. These connections can be fractured, positive, tenuous, deep or shallow. Human connection is at the root of our lived experience. As Society becomes more knowledgeable of the psychology and breadth of our relationships, I feel that we should spend more time contemplating what connections are and what they could be. It’s important to me that my paintings have a sense of ambiguity. This allows the viewer to bring their own background knowledge to the painting and see it from their own accumulated life experience.
The way I realize form is influenced by the expressionist movements of Germany and Italy, the Scuola Romana, the Bay Area Figurative painters, Japanese Ink drawing and my fascination with the anatomical structure of the human body. I begin with an idea or sometimes just a physical posture. I work it out in a sketchbook without reference, then I inform my intuitive sketch with study of the actual structure. When I feel ready, I hit the canvas with intuition of the feeling I want the painting to resonate and let the paint and canvas guide how it needs to be completed. Of course there are moments when I go back to the sketchbook to resolve compositional issues, but the ideal is when the painting resolves in an intuitive seemingly effortless way.
Currently I am incorporating color in a more reactionary way. After working out the composition in studies and sketches, I begin the final painting by blindly grabbing a few colors, then I react to them. In some cases trying to make disparate colors work harmoniously. I’m excited how working this way has added new layers of meaning to each painting.
My process of making art is ever evolving, just like I am ever evolving, as an individual. Connection, expression, and experimentation have been constant in my work from the time before I realized they were there. I expect it will continue this way as I explore new ideas and new ways of communicating those ideas.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
As a society we need to be better at recognizing where things come from, and show gratitude for the objects we possess. We live in a consumer based society, surrounded by things we can buy. Possessions come easily and are thrown away just as easily. We should show respect and care for the items we purchased and recognize the craft and mastery of those who made it. If we do this we will fill our homes with quality meaningful creations that speak to the connection of living together. This will enrich our human experience and directly benefit the lives of local creators. Part of the challenge is recognizing quality. We need to be more involved in understanding good design and quality production. I feel this can be overcome by slowing down, resisting the impulse to get what we need right now from an online retailer. Check the local options before buying something created on the other side of the world.
If we have greater appreciation for the everyday objects we use and consume, this will translate to a stronger appreciation for all disciplines of the arts. We won’t be satisfied with the run of the mill canvas print we see on the wall of the discount consumer store, or even the mediocre sitcom with a redundant plot and laugh track. We have to slow down and experience objects for what they are. Then we will start to see the craft, expertise, and meaning within objects and the creatives who made them.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Completing graduate school was the most daunting challenge I have faced in my journey to be an artist. I spent three years studying painting, drawing, art history and sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, in Rome Italy, to receive a MFA Masters of Fine Arts. Up until that point I had spent most of my life living in the United States. I had earned a BFA Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Utah, and taken some classes at the Art Students League of New York. I thought I had a pretty clear idea of what to expect from a graduate program after talking with professors and professional artists who had gone to various programs. I listened to their stories and learned what I could, and I was determined to leave the country. I wanted to study in Europe, possibly Holland, or Italy. I figured I could get a new perspective on what it means to be an artist from a culture that had such a long history of the arts. I enrolled in the Accademia and began the fall semester of September 2009. I was the only American attending the school. There were a few students from other countries such as China, Iran, Albania, Spain, etc, but for the most part I was immersed in the Italian school system and culture. From time to time I would miss some key nuance of the information I needed because all of the instruction was in Italian. Some of the professors were very helpful. Language obstacles aside, the biggest struggle was dealing with the bureaucracy. Even after 3 years I still had trouble understanding what forms and paperwork needed to be done and when.
I spent the first two years taking all the classes I could. Learning from every professor within my circle of connection. I made many good friends and added to my developing artistic vocabulary. Rome is a city of tradition, history, and culture. There is something meaningful and old around every corner. Just living in the city, walking too and from class was an aesthetic education. I learned all I could and as a result it made me different. Wholly different from the style and tradition in the western United States. Which was my ultimate goal. I wanted to find my own artistic voice. Of course I couldn’t unlearn the foundation I received in Utah, and I would never want to. Who I am as an artist is a combination of what I learned in the west combined with what I learned in Rome.
The third year of my studies was dedicated to creating a body of work and writing a thesis. The thesis was, to say the least, very difficult. Writing doesn’t come naturally for me, which is possibly why I gravitate to the visual arts. Fortunately I had an entire year to work out my ideas. I couldn’t have done it without the help of a good friend Claudia who edited the text and helped me understand how to write with correct Italian grammar. I realized early on that writing and speaking are not the same.
In November the day to defend my thesis came. I went with my wife and two little boys to the Academy armed with 5 paintings, a bunch of sketches, and my thesis bound in red leather. I was extremely nervous and I only remember fragments from that day. We were all inside the hall, a panel of 4 professors minus one, myself and my family. Waiting nervously to begin. The time to start came and passed and one of the professors hadn’t arrived. We waited fifteen minutes then twenty. I took a walk outside to calm myself. When I got to the courtyard I saw her, the missing professor. She was chatting with a colleague, they didn’t seem like they were going to finish any time soon. I didn’t want to jeopardize my grade by calling her out. In Italy things go at the pace they go. Eventually she came in and we got started. The defense went well. I explained my theories and showed my paintings. A couple of the professors were really hard on me, but the one who was outside chatting, Proffesoressa Tosi, defended my ideas.
There was a time before the third year, when our funds were getting low and my wife and I considered returning to America. I had taken all the classes the Accademia had for me. I had gained invaluable experience. To go forward and finish the thesis and artwork, I would have to find full time work. Up to this point I had been teaching part time at UPTER a Community College in Rome, but to stay I would need something more substantial. I found a job teaching English at a for profit English teaching school. This complicated my schedule and stretched everything out. We had the finances to stay in Rome, but my time was spread very thin. I balanced between teaching, painting, writing, and family life. Because I wasn’t actively enrolled in classes at the Accademia I didn’t have a studio. So I painted in the kitchen of our 700 sqft apartment, and I did a lot of plein-air painting on the streets of Rome. I carried watercolors and paper with me at all times. When I had a break between lessons I was out in the Piazza painting anything and everything. These obstacles created new opportunities for growth. Over the course of the year, as I faced these challenges I was in a position to see the city in a new way. I met new students who gave me insight into other aspects of culture and connection. I was on the streets more, seeing the architecture, the tourists, and the life of the city. It was a challenging year but it was also a very rewarding year. I grew and developed the foundation I now look back on as I create. As a result my work is more insightful and richer.
Contact Info:
- Website: clintonwhiting.com
- Instagram: @clint_Whiting
- Facebook: clinton.whiting.1
Image Credits
Ryan Odom Photography