Anthony Siarkiewicz SLOP PAINTINGS 1993-1994
Experimenting and making a mess at work. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to tell this story and put this series of paintings out. It’s not my usual style but as I shift my attention again to painting and think of what has happened over the years, I’ve finally found the motivation to put this book together and reflect on the past. In retrospect, this series of paintings were painted in a period of tremendous turmoil and stress. Much of the
stress was coming from the incredible workload I had at the time some was self-inflicted. Though the work was physically and mentally demanding, I did enjoy working on those gigantic projects. On the other hand, my private life was quite hectic. A rollercoaster
of drug and alcohol addiction. Certainly, it’s not uncommon for a young person to burn the candle at both ends but at times it was extreme. Between others and myself, these candles burned very brightly. Light is electromagnetic energy and there is a theory that everything in the universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings, billions of times smaller than an atom, hurling outwards away from the epicenter of creation like a really big confetti canon shooting in all directions and spanning multiple dimensions away from the location of the big bang. We all must have been vibrating at an unnaturally high frequency, as we flew forward in time several of the candles blew out completely and far too soon. For a very long time I’ve imagined that everything in the world is connected, the air, the water, people, everything connected through energy vibrating in a continuous field like a soup with many different ingredients that nevertheless
share a common spiciness. When I think back on those days and think of the connections I feel like we were and still are entangled particles in space moving ever forward in time. In that regard, I suppose it’s not too late to share these paintings. My art during this period is varied. I was able to collect several of the “slop paintings” because I was making them as a consequence of my scenic art, actually at work, while I was working, the boss didn’t mind. It was a moment free to experiment. There was not much time or energy left after work to paint and the projects I did paint at the time were quite different to these. This is very much a one-off series but it followed an interesting methodology and spanned over a few years. I would prepare a clean worktable when starting a new project and always take notice of the accidental drips and marks that fell naturally onto the canvas. Then, if two drops looked like they could be eyeballs I’d doodle a face and get inspired by those accidental drops. The canvas would stay there for the day or for several days and at the end of the task I would throw that piece to the side or in the trash or someone would take it. There were many of these, only a few were kept. At the time, I was married and we had a lot of fun with our friends. Staying up late, drinking, listening to loud music. We were sure, we were being creative but looking back, I think we accomplished more fun than anything else.
I’m dedicating this book to Andrea my wife, for a time, who died in 2015. On one hand, she had a heart of gold and was a good friend to many people, full of laughter, no matter the circumstances but on the other hand, she was self-destructive. We were divorced when she passed away, but we were friends. She loved these paintings and was one of the few people that framed and hung one on a wall. They for obvious reasons will always remind me of her, of that time in the 90’s and my crazy Orlando friends we shared it with. A few of the paintings are a clear depiction of rage, whether happy rage or angry rage, mine or someone else’s, is unclear now. Emotions being what they are, it could be both or neither. This series called Slop Paintings was created by chance, by random occurrence. In this not perfectly predictable world, these little droplets are chaos’s butterfly wings that left a mark on the world changing it forever. Rather than worry about the technique of making it a realistic image my usual mode of operation, I was more interested in chance, displaying emotion, and all while I was doodling or taking a break or waiting for something to dry at work painting scenery.
Hangover 1994 Acrylic on muslin 47 cm x 76 cm
(From page 1 and 2) Favorite 1993 Acrylic on canvas 70 cm x 35 cm Self Portrait 1994
Faded 1994 Acrylic on canvas 37 cm x 68 cm
Seeing Things 1993 Acrylic on muslin 80 cm x 80 cm
Devil 1994 Acrylic on muslin 51 cm x 72 cm
Wide Eyes 1993 Acrylic on canvas 60 cm x 78 cm
(Previous page) Head Exploding 1994 Acrylic on canvas 39 cm x 65 cm
Friday and Sunny 1994 Acrylic on canvas 29 cm x 61 cm
Mondays 1994 Acrylic on muslin 29 cm x 62 cm
O’ No I Don’t Believe It 1994 Acrylic on canvas 70 cm x 35 cm
Rage #1 1994 Acrylic on muslin 37 cm x 66 cm
Drowning in Chaos 1994 Acrylic on canvas 39 cm x 48 cm
Lover 1994 Acrylic on canvas 49 cm x 62 cm
Blazed 1994 Acrylic on muslin 31 cm x 45 cm
Mr. Empty 1994 Acrylic on canvas 32 cm x 64 cm
Red Face 1994 Acrylic on muslin 33 cm x 68 cm
Purple Hair 1994 Acrylic on canvas 28 cm x 58 cm
Evil 1993 Acrylic on muslin 35 cm x 77 cm
Junk 1994 Acrylic on canvas 38 cm x 29 cm
The Visitors 1993 Acrylic on canvas 51 cm x 63 cm
Seated Figure #2 1994 Acrylic on canvas 49 cm x 86 cm
Locks 1994 Acrylic on muslin 57 cm x 53 cm
Invisible Forces 1994 Acrylic on canvas 51 cm x 56 cm
Melancholy 1993 Acrylic on canvas 51 cm x 56 cm
(Previous page) Flammable - colorized 1994 Acrylic on canvas 33 cm x 71 cm
by Anthony Siarkiewicz I dedicated this book to Andrea Lenton Special thanks: John McPherson Rich Hildreth Mendi Cowles Pat McPherson Dustin Greer Guillermo Gonzalez Jim O’Rourke Lesa Kramer Brian Maguire Judith Walsh Dave Green Sarah Pelfrey Tom Monk Nigel Lenton Digitally Published Š 2017 photo: Erica John McPherson (1964-1997) Andrea Lenton (1962-2015) Anthony Siarkiewicz Nigel Lenton
Anthony Siarkiewicz, 2002
Anthony Siarkiewicz © 2017