Artist Profile Stephen Jones

I am currently at The Learning Connexion studying art. My heroes of the art world are Cezanne for his structure and rhythm, G Tiepolo for his brevity and accuracy of shadows used to describe human forms, and Paul Klee for allowing artists to dismiss reason in the construction of artworks.

I have an MA in philosophy: as soon as the relation between things is stated, or expressed as an object, it becomes a thing; no longer a relation. Thus we cannot state (know) relations. Yet we experience them. So what is the relation between the brushmark I have just put down and the next; what is the relation between this shape I have just put down and the next; what is the relation between this colour and the rest on the canvas? This is what I am studying.

I find parallels here to the internal martial arts. Having practiced Tai Chi for years I have come to the conclusion that the movements teach the body things the mind does not understand. This Qi knowledge, if you will, has been harvested in Chinese art, calligraphy, medicine for millennia. Something in the fabric of the universe our rational mind cannot grasp.

I have exhibited at The Learning Connexion, Inverlochy, The affordable arts, and Solace gallery in Maungaraki. I have paintings in private collections around New Zealand and overseas.