Transformation 2020

October 29, 2020 / visual art for sale / By Hanan Akl

An online Art seminar in support of the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art.

Back in July 2020, I participated in a month-long online art seminar called “Transformation 2020”. It was led by Amanda Sage and featured lectures by Timea Tallian, Joe Bob Merrit, Alecia Sacred Heart and other guest speakers along with the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art founders: Laurence Caruana and Florence Menard. 

What I loved most about the seminar was that 160 amazing artists from around the globe and myself had the privilege to learn the MISCHTECHNIK, each from the comfort of her/his home studio. When we couldn’t make it to the LIVE sessions due to timezone differences, we were still able to replay the recorded sessions at our own pace.

In direct translation from German, MISCHTECHNIK means “Mixed Technique”. It’s a classical method of painting which dates back to the early Renaissance times when art masters practiced it. 

As per the seminar’s description of the technique: one begins with a drawing and then renders the light values in Egg Tempera over a dark surface called the “Imprimatura” or first layer. Then through thin glazes of oil (or acrylic), the image is developed in an “in-direct” painting method.

Ernst Fuchs, an Austrian artist, revived this method by studying Max Doerner’s book “Materials of the Artist” in the 1950s and developed the concept further during his life and passed it to a group of Visionary Artists (including Amanda Sage, Laurence Caruana and many others).

During the seminar, I worked on self-portrait sketches and decalcomania before starting on my main piece where the subject was: “Ardhanarishvara”, a form of Shiva that depicts half man and half woman in one body, symbolizing the feminine and masculine qualities in a being. For the entire month, I developed the artwork using Oil Paint and Egg Tempera. 

However, after the online workshop ended on August 2, a huge explosion happened in Beirut on August 4 which made me change my main painting submission and work on a totally new composition. 

That’s where I decided to paint “For Beirut” (Acrylic & Egg Tempera on Canvas). Currently, the painting is featured in the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art’s online exhibition. Exhibition is on view till Nov. 1st, 2020, check it via this link.

The artwork is an effort to portray a small fraction of the catastrophe that shook Beirut on August 4, 2020. 

Sale of the ORIGINAL painting and the available PRINTS will be donated to artists whose studios were damaged.

On a side note, dedicating time to complete the seminar for a month, helped me get back to practicing art more than ever before! I work as a freelance consultant in Visual Design and in the past few years I felt I haven’t given my Art practice a chance to bloom. As a result, I decided to pursue it more intensely as I was inspired by fellow participant artists to invest more time and keeping myself open to create and experiment more deeply.

Also, I’ve had a strong feeling that I wish to creatively birth something (instead of biological babies 🙂 ) which can be useful and impactful for the world. That is where I chose to birth more works of art!

As part of their fundraiser events, the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art and Amanda Sage are hosting a series of online Art Workshops that you can participate in here.

Excerpt from A Letter to Agnes De Mille by Martha Graham shared by Joe Bob during the workshop:
“There is a vitality, a life force,
a quickening that is translated through you into action,
and because there is only one of you in all time,
this expression is unique.
And If you block it, it will never exist through
any other medium and be lost.
The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable it is nor how it compares with other expressions.
It is your business to keep it yours clearly
and directly to keep the channel open.
You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.
You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate YOU. Keep the channel open…
No artist is pleased…
There is no satisfaction whatever at anytime
There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction
a blessed unrest that keeps us marching
and makes “us” MORE alive than the others.”
– Martha Graham

I hope you were inspired to pursue your creative gifts further whether in dance, art, singing, etc… I’m grateful to have connected with a talented group of international artists. 

The creative fire is contagious!

Here’s my Artist Statement from the exhibition: 
The painting “For Beirut” is an individual effort to reflect and portray a small fraction of the catastrophe that shook the city on August 4, 2020.

It is said that it was the biggest non-nuclear explosion sinceWWII -causing at least 190 deaths, 6,500 injuries and leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless. It was truly a sudden and overwhelming experience for all. The mushroom effect and wave that resulted from the explosion shattered the windows, doors and walls of many houses and buildings. Streets were full of shattered glass.

“Transformation” is truly needed more than ever in the world, and above all transformation in “human consciousness” so we may have a more peaceful planet. There is so much pain in the world and I always wonder how art can help alleviate it.

There are too many unnecessary wars that the planet keeps on fighting.
It’s about time that we transform within ourselves in order to change the outside – instead of forcing external changes causing conflict.

In support of artists who have lost their studios during the explosion, the sale of this painting will be donated to them.

Finally, below is a poetic expression:

“We loved it on some days, but hated it on others.
We had mixed feelings about it.
We left it, came back to it…to leave it once again.
We couldn’t stand its pollution nor its traffic.
We never knew that this was
a reflection of life breathing through it.
A unique dance of chaos, of passionately beating hearts.
We made memories in its cafes and shops,
in its galleries and museums, lived off from its vibrant spaces
and felt the warmth in its community.
Today, we pray for it, not only in its churches and mosques,
but within our own minds and hearts.
With bricks of love and acceptance,
of non-judgment and equality,
we transform within, to help rebuild it.”

Thanks for reading!

Much love, ♥️
/ / Hanan