The attitude that nature is chaotic and that the artist puts order into it is a very absurd point of view, I think. All that we can hope for is to put some order into ourselves.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that rather than imposing order onto nature, we should focus on finding order within ourselves.
Willem De Kooning highlights the misconception that artists impose their own order on the chaotic elements of nature. He argues that true artistry lies not in controlling the external environment, but in achieving a sense of internal order and clarity. This perspective invites individuals to introspect and harmonize their internal chaos rather than attempting to manipulate the world around them, emphasizing self-reflection as a path to artistic expression and understanding.
In practice
This quote could be shared during an art workshop to encourage participants to explore their internal landscape.
I paint the way I do because I can keep on putting more and more things in - like drama, pain, anger, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas of space. It doesn't matter if it differs from mine, as long as it comes from the painting, which has its own integrity and intensity.
I don't paint to live, I live to paint.
Spiritually I am wherever my spirit allows me to be, and that is not necessarily in the future... Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure.
Im not someone whos ever said anything definitive about his work. In my life also I have very little fixed form. I can change overnight.
Art should not have to be a certain way.
My interest in desperation lies only in that sometimes I find myself having become desperate. Very seldom do I start out that way. I can see of course that, in the abstract, thinking and all activity is rather desperate.
I remember hearing someone say that good acting is more about taking off a mask than putting one on, and in movie acting, certainly that's true. With the camera so close, you can see right down into your soul, hopefully. So being able to do that in a way is terrifying, and in another way, truly liberating. And I like that about it.
Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course.
Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues; you can tell by the way she smiles.
I think that you certainly don't have to be aged and travel the world to write a poem.
Luck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film.
I like things that go into hidden, mysterious places, places I want to explore that are very disturbing. In that disturbing thing, there is sometimes tremendous poetry and truth.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.