Walking past a painted mural on a corrugated iron fence in Newtown, the deteriorating paint caught my eye. It was split, cracked and bubbled, with rust? Straight away, it reminded me of natural decay.
Then as I looked closer (with my camera), I began to see beautiful colours and textures, which again reminded me of nature...
...leaf veins... sun-baked mud...
...coral reefs... viewed from the air...
I got caught up for a moment in this hidden world.
I'm trying to understand why I find rust, decay and peeling paint beautiful. From seeing other people's photos and artworks, I know I'm not the only one. I'm sure there are whole artistic movements based on this. But I'm untrained in art theory or history, so I struggle to find the words to explain myself.
I really relate to this quote from UK artist, Fiona Long "As I walk around the streets of London, on my way to college or work and when I’m out and about, going to galleries I see art everywhere. It may not be art to anyone else as it isn’t obviously beautiful, it isn’t made by an artist and it isn’t in a gallery, but I keep seeing elements of aesthetic quality and beauty wherever I look. I intend to explore the beauty of what many see as ugly, imperfect elements of our urban environment."
A while ago, I heard about the Japanese aesthetic called Wabi-sabi. "Wabi-sabi acknowledges three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect... Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (harshness, roughness), simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and the suggestion of natural processes."
