Text written for a first exhibition of the Cave Painting serie.
Cave Paintings
An artistic research into prehistoric art
Why I did what I did and how
Les Eyzies-de-Tayac in the Dordogne, in the valley of the Vézère River, is known as the world-capital of prehistory because of it's exceptional number of prehistoric sites and long history of archeological research. Remains of all different periods of human life in Western Europe were discovered here, as well as a large number of cave paintings and engravings.
In the summer of 2015 I came here to see these earliest of art forms. In November I came back to stay for several months. I wanted to paint what I felt when I visited these caves and study the richness and diversity of the prehistoric art. For my artistic research I chose watercolour paper, 65cm x 50cm, and the natural earth pigments, also used by the prehistoric artists, mixed with egg-tempera.
It was clear that I would not be able to match the grandeur of the prehistoric art in its original context of the caves. A literal copy of the ancient art didn’t make much sense to me. The wild animals which thematically dominate the prehistoric art are no longer present and do not carry the significance which they probably once had. What I did was to absorb with all my senses the ambiance of the caves and the lines and traces left behind by prehistoric artists. This experience I did express in my paintings.
I read and studied what scientists had discovered about the background of prehistoric art. The extensive library of the “ Pôle Internationale de la Préhistoire” provided me with fascinating books and video documentaries. The over a century old attempts to interpret cave art shows how difficult it is to stay clear of ones own preconceptions. I considered it a challenge to stay alert and to keep on questioning my beliefs and interpretations and always look at them again from another angle. That is why I chose to keep the paintings abstract and allow them to be viewed in different orientations.
Sources of inspiration are for me, as much as they were for the prehistoric artist, the forms, colours and textures of the rocks. The ancient engravings also did fascinate and inspire me. The finely carved lines and the detailed and realistic representation of the animals are stunning. Different animals are superimposed on each other, combined with unidentifiable lines and abstract symbols. This create a complex web of lines. I am fascinated by these chaotic lines, the way they create an almost skin like web surface. Those webs are also found in some of my paintings.
When I enter a cave I experience a transforming sense of space and time. What is under or above, right or left is sometimes not that clear anymore trough the form of the cave and the darkness. Ancient artworks have been present on floors, walls and ceilings. I did feel as if the past was touching the present. The notion of time-travelling often came to my mind. The often suggestive natural formations like stalactites and stalagmites and the monumental space of the caves, combined with the traces prehistoric artists left behind, sometimes gave me the feeling of being observed by a spirit-world. In my paintings I attempt to capture that feeling of being there with them.
Gerdi Fonk,
Spring 2016
An artistic research into prehistoric art
Why I did what I did and how
Les Eyzies-de-Tayac in the Dordogne, in the valley of the Vézère River, is known as the world-capital of prehistory because of it's exceptional number of prehistoric sites and long history of archeological research. Remains of all different periods of human life in Western Europe were discovered here, as well as a large number of cave paintings and engravings.
In the summer of 2015 I came here to see these earliest of art forms. In November I came back to stay for several months. I wanted to paint what I felt when I visited these caves and study the richness and diversity of the prehistoric art. For my artistic research I chose watercolour paper, 65cm x 50cm, and the natural earth pigments, also used by the prehistoric artists, mixed with egg-tempera.
It was clear that I would not be able to match the grandeur of the prehistoric art in its original context of the caves. A literal copy of the ancient art didn’t make much sense to me. The wild animals which thematically dominate the prehistoric art are no longer present and do not carry the significance which they probably once had. What I did was to absorb with all my senses the ambiance of the caves and the lines and traces left behind by prehistoric artists. This experience I did express in my paintings.
I read and studied what scientists had discovered about the background of prehistoric art. The extensive library of the “ Pôle Internationale de la Préhistoire” provided me with fascinating books and video documentaries. The over a century old attempts to interpret cave art shows how difficult it is to stay clear of ones own preconceptions. I considered it a challenge to stay alert and to keep on questioning my beliefs and interpretations and always look at them again from another angle. That is why I chose to keep the paintings abstract and allow them to be viewed in different orientations.
Sources of inspiration are for me, as much as they were for the prehistoric artist, the forms, colours and textures of the rocks. The ancient engravings also did fascinate and inspire me. The finely carved lines and the detailed and realistic representation of the animals are stunning. Different animals are superimposed on each other, combined with unidentifiable lines and abstract symbols. This create a complex web of lines. I am fascinated by these chaotic lines, the way they create an almost skin like web surface. Those webs are also found in some of my paintings.
When I enter a cave I experience a transforming sense of space and time. What is under or above, right or left is sometimes not that clear anymore trough the form of the cave and the darkness. Ancient artworks have been present on floors, walls and ceilings. I did feel as if the past was touching the present. The notion of time-travelling often came to my mind. The often suggestive natural formations like stalactites and stalagmites and the monumental space of the caves, combined with the traces prehistoric artists left behind, sometimes gave me the feeling of being observed by a spirit-world. In my paintings I attempt to capture that feeling of being there with them.
Gerdi Fonk,
Spring 2016