Q&A With Elijah
What is Linear Impressionism?
Linear Impressionism, as I approach it, is a style of art or design that uses straight lines, either very few lines or dozens of lines, to represent a scene of one or more people, animals, objects, or a combination thereof.
Often, because of the somewhat abstract nature of Linear Impressionism, the viewer might struggle identifying the work without first becoming aware of the title of it. However, I've found that this actually allows the viewer the opportunity to reason out what they're seeing in their own time and achieve a sort of "aha moment" once their minds begin to slowly fill in the blank space between the actual lines of what they're viewing.
Perhaps a somewhat more academic definition of Linear Impressionism would be, a minimalist or deconstructionist continuum of abstract impressionism or expressionism using the limitations or constraints of the use of only straight lines with, primarily, negative space to convey an image or scene.
Do people need to know the title of a work of Linear Impressionism in order to understand the piece?
I would say about half of the people who view my artwork could pretty much guess what they're viewing without knowing the title - or at least pick out certain objects if not the complete scene. However, knowing the title often enhances their observational experience as my titles usually try to connect an emotional resonance between my work - through my own experiences, to a viewer's similar emotional past experiences. In addition, I've created a type of specific iconographic lexicon that predefines repeatedly used objects to help one's experiential understanding of my style of this type of abstract art.
Can you talk about the importance of titles or labeling something as it pertains to Linear Impressionism?
In terms of Linear Impressionism, the title is important as it acts as a road map for the viewer to most fully understand what they're looking at. This is not dissimilar to some abstract, abstract impressionism or other non-objective or contemporary art forms where a title is often necessary to guide the viewer or at least point the viewer in some sort of direction aligned with the artist's objective.
By allowing viewers to control, in a sense, when they decide to see the title of a work of Linear Impressionism so as to individually experience the length of challenge of discovery, the observer has complete agency to dial in the amount of visual comprehension and potential emotional depth (or lack thereof) with every piece.
However, titling as it pertains to labeling something re our social construct or mores in terms of morality and kindness is something I do try and explore in some of my pieces, such as Religious Distancing and (Anti)Social Media.
Is Linear Impressionism a type of Protest Art?
Not exactly Protest Art- point for point in the classic sense, but more like simply giving an opinion or observation on the often ludicrous nature of certain aspects of our society of which I'm clearly a part of, in linear form.
Possibly to expose some sort of hypocrisy within a subject matter?
Perhaps with certain pieces.
Can you touch upon the "freedom of choice" of interpretation re Linear Impressionism?
Yes, and as an example, take my Flying in 2020. The actual piece was intended to depict people wanting to not just sit on an airplane, but, once onboard, to actually physically sit as far apart from their neighboring passengers as possible, to the point where some might even consider hanging outside of the airplane to hitch their rides!
The idea, absurd as it is, came to me after several people actually told me, during the first few months of the pandemic, that they felt it would be suicide to fly in a commercial airline and they'd only do it if they had no other choice as it would be like "taking my life into my own hands not knowing if I'd survive or not."
A friend of mine, after viewing Flying in 2020, told me that she felt that it represents the complete decimation of the airline industry for without the government's monetary subsidies it received, the airlines would have otherwise been obliterated. Therefore, she felt that the painting was actually a pro-socialist Protest Art painting!
Clearly the freedom of choice as to how to interpret art, whether Linear Impressionism or other art forms, should always be there because it not only broadens the scope of societal discussion of potential current events, but can lead to enhanced positive possibilities of interpretation through the careful listening to other individual viewpoints, which, in my opinion, often can lead to a healthier, or at least, broader perspective when all other avenues of communication have failed.
Can there be a right or wrong interpretation of Linear Impressionism?
Contrary to what most might think, some of my favorite interpretations of my work are ones when the viewer has either only a very slight inkling of what the artwork represents or none at all. However, and, interestingly, once made aware of the title, some actually begin to interpret the artwork quite differently than I actually intended! It truly becomes a constant reminder that even though something feels completely obvious to one person, it can simultaneously mean the complete opposite to someone standing right beside you.
When you think about it, why should my interpretation be the correct one and other opinions be wrong? Is it because I think that the majority of people would side with my perspective because I created it? Clearly, I would then be guilty of not being open to exactly what I propose is one of the more beautiful aspects of this type of artwork, namely, there is no wrong or right viewpoint, just varying degrees of perspective inclusive of not just the majority, but the minority as well, with equal respect towards the inclusivity of both.
Have you ever strongly disagreed with someone's interpretation of your work?
As alluded to above, it's hard to really disagree. That would be a bit like listening to someone recall a dream, and then you argue with that individual that it was impossible that he had that particular dream exactly how he's recalling it. If someone has a point of view, or a different perspective than yours, why is it automatically a wrong one? It's simply different, and, maybe it's different because it's moving away from long held biases that you yourself have held for years.
What attracts you to the open interpretation of art in general and specifically with Linear Impressionism?
I have always been attracted to design- not just fine art but to any type of design that allows for different types of interpretation – whether it being architecture, sculpture, digital art, music, wonderfully articulated graffiti on a desolate building wall or artwork hung in an austere setting such as a library-quiet museum.
Over the years, I’ve found that one of the best ways to achieve a type of open or dynamic interpretation, for almost any type of art that has even the slightest abstract element to it, is for the viewer to delay seeing the title of the piece for as long as possible, thus creating a more gratifying little surprise when full realization of what the image actually is, at least according to the artist, begins to slowly set in. However, with Linear Impressionism, I feel that it is really the combination of not just delaying seeing the title, but because of the very nature of so much blank or negative space within the art itself that can allow for a bit of a longer "interpretive journey."
So, it really is the freedom of choice to not only see what you want to see within or without the actual lines, but to control the timing of discovery as well. This concept is fascinating to me both as an artist and as an observer of others' creations. In that respect, Linear Impressionism is a little bit more jazz than classical.
What topics do you generally paint or draw?
Like most artists, I create from what I've experienced, and/or, what I'd like to experience. Those topics would include music, sailing, fishing, riding horses- I think you get the idea. I've also been influenced by the artwork that my parents hung in our home growing up. I actually don't think there was any negative space on any wall throughout our home as my father liked to literally cover every inch of the walls with paintings. Those paintings included cowboys riding or tending horses, American Indians in various scenes showing their beautiful culture, along with some more contemporary art as well as paintings he created himself. Often there would be three or four rows of paintings on any given wall. When I was a child I could almost feel and hear the sounds coming off some of those paintings - they were that vibrant to me and incredibly transportive even to this day.
You seem to have created a lot of paintings showing dogs or dog walkers!
I have, and there's probably a lot more coming! Living in Manhattan, it's almost impossible not to be made aware of the dog (and overall generous animal loving) culture that thrives here. My advice to anyone visiting Manhattan is that if they ever see someone walking two or more dogs along the sidewalk is to let them have the right of way! Dog walkers in New York are definitely a very special and dedicated breed all their own.
I'll never forget what precipitated me drawing The Nuts & Bolts of Dog Walking. I was taking a walk one evening, and approaching me was a professional dog walker walking what looked like to be at least six dogs, which he skillfully guided up Madison Avenue while simultaneously texting and smoking a joint somewhat meditatively talking either to himself or the dogs, or probably both. As we passed each other after I'd given he and his flock the right of way along the narrow sidewalk, one of the dogs cocked his head to the side, giving me a sweet, somewhat sympathetic- almost apologetic face for making me move out of the way for him and his entourage.
How does the importance of bias come into play regarding your Linear Impressionism artwork?
I think bias, whether ugly and overt like racism and anti-semitism, or perhaps more slight and covert like a joke made at the workplace at the expense of any type of minority including a subordinate, or even a misreading of facts because of the confusion sometimes between causation and correlation, has shown often leads not only to wrong decision making but can potentially have dangerous effects on our society in general.
That said, comically or ironically approaching or trying to expose a long-held societal bias via art, music or comedy can often be tricky for the artist because of certain emotional sensitivities of the observer. I think most artists understand this when it comes to their work, from graffiti artists to architects, to stand-up comedians to the best jazz musicians.
However, sometimes we, as a society, simply can't ignore the hypocrisy in which we live purely because of our continued need to live in the way we've become accustomed to. For example, in Unity, I explore nature and man's co-dependent existence– made even more relevant in the post-global warming awareness times in which we all live. All that said, exposing a bias and having a positive outcome from that unmasking requires a lot of cohesive, and, often, progressive work by all.
What are some of the main differences, in your opinion, between the original school of Impressionism in the 1800s and Linear Impressionism?
Clearly there are many. What initially stands out to me would be their attention and application to both form and color. Besides that, there is, of course, their groundbreaking technique of paint application via their brush strokes, as well as, of course, their utilization of applying paint directly onto the canvas from tubes of pre-mixed oil paint. It's interesting that often their desire was to have the colors begin to blend on the canvas, but to have the end result of the color mix, take place in the mind's eye of the viewer.
Also, the importance they placed on using direct sun or moonlight was crucial, perhaps ultimately and naturally leading to how they represented shadow, which included a type of shadow-color itself, another breakthrough for those original Impressionist painters such as Monet.
In Linear Impressionism, it is somewhat the opposite- there is really no orgy of pallet color to draw from, no shadow from light as an active participant to play with. It is the simplicity of the straight line that pushes us towards the goal of the form. In a sense, it is often from the length and thickness of a single line that can be the key to unlock the vibrancy of emotion in a Linear Impressionism work both for the artist and the viewer.
Emotion felt upon viewing Linear Impressionism, perhaps, should ideally be at its peak empathy, when viewing a work utilizing the least amount of lines with the most amount of blank space. The greater the blank space, the greater possibilities left for the viewer's imagination to play in and from.
And, now the flip side, what is one of the main similarities between the original school of Impressionism in the 1800s and your Linear Impressionism today?
I would say that the greatest similarities is giving the viewer of the artwork freedom to come to the decision of what they are viewing. As almost all abstract or impressionistic artwork is mostly subjective to some extent, why not give an individual the opportunity to decide what they are actually viewing, albeit, with a little nudge?
Are you concerned giving so much autonomy to a viewer to decide what they see in your work?
It's a testimony of faith to allow someone to make up their own minds as to what to eat, what to wear, how to talk, and, of course, how to interpret any type of art. Parents go through this almost every day with their children, bosses go through this even more with their employees and, to some extent, spouses, no doubt, go through this every day as well, namely, how much autonomy is too much or not enough as it relates to decision making.
To create within any type of art or design, especially when where there is an impressionist or abstract element to it, is to already accept the openness of interpretive conversation that will undoubtedly follow.
I actually think it's a badge of honor to be called any type of impressionist. Although the term was initially coined in a somewhat pejorative fashion, I love the fact that I can give an impression of something to start the dialogue off and trust that where and when it lands- if it even lands at all, will be fine for those seeing the work.
Can you discuss the importance of negative space in Linear Impressionism?
I believe that negative or empty space is extremely important in Linear Impressionism. It is one of its key components that allows for open interpretation of the work created. Often, there can be several very rational or logical interpretations once the title of the work becomes known to the viewer.
A good example of this would be my Future Lovers.
I was thinking about how we are often attracted to someone who possesses similar qualities, attributes or viewpoints as ourselves - whether we care to admit it or not. Putting that assumption on one side of the scale, I thought it would be interesting to try and balance that out, pictorially, with almost the opposite notion, namely, the concept that we're also very often attracted to someone who has what we don't have, either emotionally, physically, materially or some sort of combination. In other words, people who are not just opposite, but uniquely different in a way that we admire that might "complete us" in a sense.
To depict this duality, I wanted to give the visual impression of both those notions. If you look at Future Lovers in a certain way, it can either be viewed as a single person, separated in two halves, trying to come together to become complete. However, most people view it as an impression of two separate people drawn towards one another.
Something I strive for, but, admittedly, is very difficult to attain, is using as few strokes as possible to convey an image while providing the viewer several possibilities to imagine movement within the scene depicted.
What is an Iconographic Lexicon regarding Linear Impressionism?
Because of the abstract nature of Linear Impressionism, and the often reusing of different objects, especially within a series of paintings, such as my "middle series," I felt that communication via images or icons that have been previously identified can be incredibly powerful using the limited visual constructs found in Linear Impressionism.
As an example, in “Father and Sons Grazing” once you are able to identify the little cowboy hats each figure is wearing, upon seeing those little hats in subsequent paintings, it becomes easier to form an impression of the painting’s content/intent even prior to seeing the specific title of the piece. I felt that this would allow for more interpretive complexity, much like how we use language.
How long have you been painting or drawing in this style?
I started out very, very young drawing little "x's" on my father's quadrille graph paper, which is a type of paper that has hundreds of equa-distant little squares that engineers or draftsman use for technical drawings or applications. My father would use the paper to sketch out his seemingly endless engineering inventions while I'd be next to him spending those same hours drawing in little x's within the little square boxes layed out in front of me on this sandbox type of play paper. He'd often tell me how I'm "linearly giving an impression" as I'd form houses, trees, people, animals, little neighborhoods even. I'd comfortably lose myself for a whole afternoon sitting next to my father as he worked out his new technological innovations while I'd be creating these little worlds within my little lines from my little hands.
I continued this style into grammar school, where the teachers would often wonder what I was doing in their art classes, on into high school and into and after college. Regardless of whatever style I'd explore, I always found myself returning to those little lines. Eventually, I started to erase or paint over lines even after actually completing drawings, challenging myself to see if the artwork still made sense to me after erasing more and more of the composition's lines. It was a challenge that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. Importantly, whenever I'd ask a friend if they could recognize an image once I started to delete numerous lines, they couldn't. Unless, of course, I explained what they were viewing by providing a title.
It was actually during a long stay in the seaport town of Jaffa, Israel several years ago that I started to draw and paint on larger canvases. As I started creating more and more artwork, I began to display the artwork on my apartment walls or just leaning against a wall. As luck would have it, my apartment was for sale, so there were a lot of potential buyers coming through looking at the apartment, and, of course, they couldn't help but notice all of this unusual artwork on the walls. Truthfully, it was actually all over the place often impeding where they'd walk in the hallways and n the bedrooms. There were often times when those folks would be looking at the apartment with a broker while I was working on a piece. This type of unusual scenario often led to a general discussion about art and even interest in purchasing the artwork itself.
Do you think you would have shared your work had you not been in Israel at that time?
I'm not sure, but I do think about that sometimes. However, the fact that I had a lot of people coming in and out of the apartment for several months who showed interest and delighted in trying to guess what they were looking at prior to me telling them the title of the work, definitely was a crucial factor. Also, and this is perhaps a personal metaphoric reach, but in that living situation of mine at the time, I literally couldn't keep hiding or covering the artwork anymore in my apartment/life, as there soon became a point where there were just too many to cover up/hide anymore.
You mentioned your father was an artist?
He was. Although his vocation was that of an aerospace engineer with varying degrees of specialty in laser-space communications, radar systems and other technical fields, he did take art/drawing/painting classes at the legendary Art Students League here in New York. Unfortunately, he didn't keep most of his paintings for some reason-perhaps for the same reason that I didn't really keep much of my early work as well. Maybe the simple enjoyment of creation was enough for him. However, after marrying my mom, she was able to save a few paintings of his from him throwing them out. I actually have and cherish those that do remain, which depict dancers, circus performers and musicians. In fact, they're hanging on my studio wall right now.
Where do you see Linear Impressionism in 20 years?
Who knows? I think it would be great if others picked up on the style and make it their own- perhaps modifying it a bit where there becomes a limit to the amount of lines used to depict a scene, for example. To me, the most important thing is that we allow the viewer to make their own decision and when to make that decision on what they see and feel, whether it's a piece of art on a canvas painted in a style called Linear Impressionism, Linear Expressionism or Post-Dada Systematic Ritualism. In the end, the freedom to express oneself as an artist would become meaningless if those viewing the work aren't as free to interpret as the artist was at the point of creation.