Tony Twigg

Tony Twigg: The Substance of Space

Text by Hannah Jo Uy 

While most artists dedicate their careers perfecting that which is seen, multidisciplinary Australian artist Tony Twigg spends his time examining that which is not seen. Twigg cultivates a deep understanding of how the spaces within a visual composition are equally important, if not more so, than the actual focal points of the creative piece. Through his creations he revels in how shape and color operate relative to one another, proving that at times, absence can hold even greater meaning than its counterpart.

“The recurrent theme in my work and in exhibitions of my work is the voice given to the unseen and the way it partners the seen,” shares Tony, “It is an absent presence that is immediately a visual experience…for me this intangible balance generates a mood – something with wider implications, offering pause for reflection.”

A distinctive form of awareness sets the artist apart, as he exhibits a sincere appreciation for the myriad of forces that creates and recreates an artwork, stepping aside to let the piece be molded by temporal, cultural and other prevailing forces. 

Tony Twigg is determined to remain authentic, and doing so inevitably led him to a creative profession. It wasn’t so much that Tony decided to become an artist, but rather he simply recognized, that there was no other option but to be an artist, a decision which he recalls to have made on September 1, 1980. He went on to study painting, receiving his Master of Visual Arts from the College of Fine Arts, Sydney in 1985.

While in University, Twigg refined his distinct creative voice through experimentation, and it was during this time that he thought to cut up his paintings and rearranging them, “I had the idea that I could simply discard what was not essential in my pictures. What I ended up with were objects that quickly became puppets. Their performance became the subject of my work, a story that has been told and re-told many times since. Recently I have been asking myself a question what if those “tales” from long ago remains in my now abstracted work?”

Following his studies, he received notable grants and residencies from all over the world. As a dedicated learner, and an eternal student, his accumulation of knowledge was not simply for the sake of rote memorization but rather as a catalyst for deep contemplation and critical thinking. 

“The greatest part of my work, like most artists, is speculation and conjecture,” Tony shares, “It’s the job of following ideas through the studio without an anticipated conclusion.” However, following the same train of thought, he is also eager to take a step away from being consumed in the studio, instead pursuing collaborative work to instill a certain level of tension within a piece. “Collaboration demands that elements of the work are handed over to the other collaborators and I find that this is most effectively achieved by relinquishing control over the work in its entirety.  The work leaves my hands and my ambition to be returned re-born offering the revelation that is hoped for in all art making endeavors.” 

Twigg’s artistic endeavors has resulted in striking exhibits all over the world, with more than 40 solo exhibitions across Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines. However, his creative energies and interest in performance led him to pursue filmmaking, completing a number of cinematic projects, which have been showcased at the distinguished Cannes Film Festival. 

“My works in film are part of a broader engagement with performed works,” Tony shares, “That is, art works that are arranged through time where one image or element leads on to the next and then to the next, revealing something like a story in the process. Most of these temporal works, be they film or performance involve me in giving up my story to someone else, who then returns it, changed and imbued with the presence of their life. My most recent work of this kind is “Life still”, a dance work for two performers based on an old work that was poorly documented when it was first made.” “Life still” was presented in an exhibition of Twigg in Sydney, earlier this year.

 

An avid traveler, Twigg admits he was influenced by his sojourns around Asia, particularly in the stillness of remote and rustic provincial settings that he was inclined to visit. The objects that defined these cultures, both pragmatic and ornate, captured his imagination and the sights, smells, and sounds of these exotic countries ingrained themselves within his psyche leading him to reimagine Asian aesthetics within his own context.  

However, he harbors a special place in his heart for the Philippines, “Sydney is the base,” says tony, recalling his home and studio in Australia, “but Manila is the outpost. Manila builds strength in me that Sydney redoes. It is what draws me back here. Something simultaneously known and exotic that I carry away with me when I leave.”

Throughout his long and illustrious career, Twigg continues to maintain a certain sense of freshness and originality within his work, which is an organic byproduct of his open reception of the world: “Freshness comes when the unexpected is embraced,” he says, “By taking risks with a work, that drops it in an unanticipated place. It leaves me thinking on my feet, which is another way of saying that freshness lives in the accidents, along with a certain kind of truth.”

He also shares his musings on the development of artists: “I’m not sure that artists evolve. It might be that they are born fully formed. What grows is the capacity to articulate - to express many things in a few gestures, rather that a few things in many gestures.  While what is there to work on, the ideas and the sensibilities that define our subject matter remain fairly constant. What has grown for me is an understanding of the totality of my work and how various elements fit next to each other in it.”

Twigg’s dynamic way of thinking is palpable in his latest exhibit at the Galleria Duemila entitled “There, not there and on the way”, which is on display until September 30, 2016. Featuring a striking collection of paintings, collage works, construction as well as a film pieces and animated works, the show celebrates the versatility and dynamic creative range of Twigg. 

The collection came from Twigg’s attempts to render his images on flat surfaces and as flat surfaces. Through the use of stencils as he replicated the shapes to be constructed, he was able to trace the movements through time, and infuse a sense of performance on the canvas, animating his creations. Many pieces in the show serves as prototype for endeavors and creative pursuits he is eager to further explore. 

As always Twigg continues to get his inspiration by engaging in the real world, immersing himself in the authenticity of our tactile senses and personal experience, serving as an infinite creative pool that constantly informs his work. “It’s anti-social media that I am drawn to. It sparks the imagination inviting inspiration to intrude rather than smothering life in a thick layer of perpetual, facebooked happiness propaganda.”

He remains ever patient in his construction and creative process, relaxed in his understanding of the necessity of reincarnation to help further add layers of meaning within each creative product, allowing it to be constantly resurrected into unexpected and unlikely ways. 

Of his philosophy, and his process, Tony only says, “NEVER give up. I don’t follow a prescriptive method of art making based on philosophical values. I’ll try anything to resolve a piece I am working on – anything and any way is ok and if it fails, then try again including letting it sit alone as time alone can be a magician.”

Tony twigg continues to look to the future, waiting in anticipation for the new worlds set to be revealed to him: “The favorite work is always the next work because it is full of promise. It speaks of the possible, is careless of constraint and passionate of ideas be they old or new. The next work is life reborn.” 

“There, not there and on the way” by Tony Twigg can be viewed from September 3  to 30, 2016 at the Galleria Duemila, at 210 Loring St., Pasay City 1300. www.galleriaduemila.com