Dan Fig

Grant awarded Spring 2016

website: http://www.danfig.net/

The Kossak Travel Grant has had a huge impact on my work, both in terms of what I expected to encounter as well as those unforeseeable and invaluable moments that present themselves while traveling. I’d rediscovered Rene Magritte not long before applying for the grant and came to see a profound parallel between his work and mine. There seemed to be similar ambitions and a similar take on life; a sort of bright cynicism and desired to fold this perspective in a reality in which it already sits but isn’t always made visible. I hadn’t really seen this in my own work until a friend pointed out the visual similarities with some Magritte works that I had, at the point, not yet seen. The concision of visual representation to communicate specific things, the pointing to the absurd in daily life, the attention to graphic quality and visual attraction; all of these were elements that were becoming more and more important in my own paintings. And to find them in something I was already familiar with, though not well versed in, was both validating and challenging. To find an artist you can never personally know but relate to so well is nothing short of the corny magic at the heart of becoming an artist. Magritte and I were both educated as graphic designers, and indeed some of the posters on display at the Magritte museum in Brussels were some of the most important works for me to absorb and bring back to the studio with me. Had he not gone on to find a new means of expression (painting) he clearly would have become a celebrated designer. Amidst all this is the psychology of the works, and his great understanding of common human experience and how to visually indicate this. So much of Magritte’s mastery is aligned with my ambitions as a painter. And it is beyond reassuring to have the opportunity and support to take on that ambition full force. Without seeing these works in person, without getting the opportunity understand their cultural context and their legacy, the shifts in my work may have strayed from my goals. Luckily, the supports were in place and I know now that my experience has had a formative influence on my work and I feel confident pursuing my ambitions and taking on the forthcoming challenges.