Art & Asperger's

[artful_aspie]

I was diagnosed in late middle years after I found dealing with the neurotics that art attracts did my head in. I blamed myself for not understanding them when the issue was they were crazymakers with extreme control motives. I escaped & found that the Coronavirus has given me time to just get on & do stuff. I paint imaginary landscapes & strange creatures that I used to make as clay. Like this cat called 'Port Douglas Cat'. I made the sculpture some years ago & have painted it as a subject in several works. I either use paper or canvas.

 

[Mia]

WOW I really, really like it. A lot of mastery there.

Also paint and collage imaginary landscapes using materials that others throw away. Cardboard, eggshell, paper, dried vegetable skins, bark and old magazines and fabric. I'm working on a large piece now, an abstract.

 

[artful_aspie]

Thanks Mia, I appreciate it. I have always painted, went to art college a thousand years ago, went to university more recently, but my heart was not in it. Did well enough, but teaching kids? A person has to like them for a start & all that noise did me in. Before I did pottery for years until that all collapsed due to a changing world & as you know fast changes are difficult for people with ASD. Now I am back to painting. However, I also recognize how Aspies can be 'mismanaged' by others & I just do not have art colleagues around me I trust. So, I thought I would try these online sites to exchange ideas & other views with artists who understand ASD. People can be so rude & users are everywhere, I do not understand what they hope to achieve? Do you work with any groups? All very problematic at present of course. But I think artists although they work alone best do need others for valuable feedback & connections. I am working to moving to a better location when the pandemic is slowed to find groups of AS artists. They exist as I have seen some sites & videos. Do you use a website? I upload YouTube videos about my Art & my Asperger's; I am what I am. Nothing more. I am looking for others who have art making on their minds. Your work sounds very interesting & different from mine. I have seen a couple of your pieces you posted on another forum - it is all good.

 

[Wolfsage]

Mind posting some more? I do appreciate art. Though yours is not my speciality ill add my thoughts. The cat is well done but, the background is not complimenting it. I feel distracted looking at it. And if it's not too strong a criticism the background seems messy. Though I can see the detail in it. The colors are out of balance.

 

[Mia]

Thanks Mia, I appreciate it. I have always painted, went to art college a thousand years ago, went to university more recently, but my heart was not in it. Did well enough, but teaching kids? A person has to like them for a start & all that noise did me in.

Your quite welcome, your use of colour as well as the way in which you place the paint is reminicent of several artists I've seen. I too went to art school, fine arts, and then when I couldn't sell, went back and took commercial art. Afterwards, I and several artists opened a collective to sell art. We made enough income to live on and eventually found a place to rent where we could work.

Teaching in general really requires a great deal of patience, something I lack. So it's not a profession I would choose. It must have been difficult to do, as they do make a great deal of noise given the encouragement. And noise truly upsets me. I have taught children art, children I babysat, younger siblings, a neighbours children. But it was for short periods of time.

Do you work with any groups? All very problematic at present of course. But I think artists although they work alone best do need others for valuable feedback & connections. I am working to moving to a better location when the pandemic is slowed to find groups of AS artists. They exist as I have seen some sites & videos. Do you use a website? I upload YouTube videos about my Art & my Asperger's; I am what I am. Nothing more. I am looking for others who have art making on their minds. Your work sounds very interesting & different from mine. I have seen a couple of your pieces you posted on another forum - it is all good.

Not really, and I do miss working in the same silent room with others who know and understand art. The work I do now is completely different from the commerical art I've sold in the past.

No I don't use any websites. Although late in the nineties I did have one that I sold art on. I took it down for various reasons. I don't like the idea of being influenced by anyone, which sounds ridiculous as we all are in a real way by the art we studied. I see a great deal of post impressionism and some of the modern painters in yours.

 

[artful_aspie]

I understand all of this. Teaching was okay when I was younger, but older AS folk just get worse with sensitivities. Neurotypicals think we will grow out of it, or a little of what hurts you will make you resilient. No! It does not, our brains are wired differently & as I age the masking I have used to be 'nice' is failing. I just cannot be bothered with rude pushy types anymore. The art scene is full of them, users & abusers are attracted to what they believe is easy. It is quite hard to show your Art, people will criticize it harshly or dismiss it with contempt. Kant, the 18th century philosopher made the point that aesthetics is a singular practice; there is no WE in judging it. There is no consensus, so the language of the critique needs better language, e.g., messy should be fluid & so on. Websites are hard work & cost money. The art groups around me seem to be about collections of disgruntled types looking for a complaint forum, no thanks. Rather do the stuff for myself, & hang the pictures on trees for people to take. I have given so much away.

 

[Mia]

Teaching was okay when I was younger, but older AS folk just get worse with sensitivities. Neurotypicals think we will grow out of it, or a little of what hurts you will make you resilient. No! It does not, our brains are wired differently & as I age the masking I have used to be 'nice' is failing.

It's gotten far worse as I've aged, especially sound sensitivity. There is absolutely no way I can 'grow out' of such things. And things that 'hurt' are very often with me in memory for all time. I can be resilient when it comes to certain changes if necessary, but never that. Certainly the facade crumbles after a time, as it seems pointless and superficial.

I'll never show again, I see no point in wondering or caring now what others think of the art I do.

 

[Mia]

Kant, the 18th century philosopher made the point that aesthetics is a singular practice; there is no WE in judging it. There is no consensus, so the language of the critique needs better language, e.g., messy should be fluid & so on.

I know Kant a little, but I didn't know that. Messy describes clutter not art.

And beauty can be the expression of an aesthetic idea, a representation of the imagination as Kant implied.

 

[artful_aspie]

Kant was reminding us that we only really know what our eyes or senses, through our brain tells us. Of his time God does get thrown in there, but we cheery pick what we want as all such philosophy has been succeeded by physics. But for art criticism we need all the evaluation we can get from Plato to Freud, Marx, & on wards, my personal favourites Nietzsche & Foucault

 

[artful_aspie]

Something to watch, not the best, but it gives an insight into my creativity.

 

[OkRad]

Kant was reminding us that we only really know what our eyes or senses, through our brain tells us. Of his time God does get thrown in there, but we cheery pick what we want as all such philosophy has been succeeded by physics. But for art criticism we need all the evaluation we can get from Plato to Freud, Marx, & on wards, my personal favourites Nietzsche & Foucault

Which Nietzsche do you like best? I derived a lot of strength from Zarathustra. It is beautifully written and intense and gentle. I read it while young so I did not know it was appropriated by the Nazis. It simply gave me personal strength to overcome when I needed it.

 

[artful_aspie]

Gosh, my favourite Nietzsche? 'Twilight Of The Idols The Anti-Christ', 'The Gay Science', anything really. Studied Critical Theory at university when one could, not fashionable now. I have this enormous book that could be used as a doorstop or step called 'The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism'. Lovely read if you have a spare 6 months, everyone who made our Modern world & has now been forgotten.