Annual Group Exhibition

Best of TAG
Annual Group Exhibition
December 28, 2010 - January 22, 2011
Reception: Saturday, January 8th 3-6pm

TAG Gallery Interviews Michael Knight

Austin 60 x 40" 
digiglyph 
Michael Knight 

Blackbirds become symbols in Michael Knight's imagery as he explores patterns of relocation and change.

In observation of your work one gets the impression that there is a ritual taking place. How would you account for this?

 I don’t see it as being ritualistic. My work is communicating the rhythms of migration and the change that occurs when someone with established patterns of living moves from one place to another and has to understand how to fit in. People move, establish themselves, and survive; these things are a part of migration. The black birds are symbolic of humans as survivors, and the concentric rings are symbolic of time passing, growth, change, and the ripple effect that these type of movements engender. I present symbols of human migration, travel and change, leaving and starting, endings and beginnings.


Who or what determines the meaning of your work?

 I would imagine that each viewer can establish a unique meaning by bringing their own personal history to the work. The viewer and I add a layer of meaning, as does the culture in which the work is viewed. How people might feel about the concept of border, crossings, migration, and change also adds a layer of meaning. I invite the viewer to draw their own conclusions about the ideas presented in my work.

 Does your life experience play a role in your imagery?

 Yes. My life experience has lead me to make certain conclusions about life and see the world in a particular way. I think humans have a proclivity to unravel their surroundings to find meaning, and we all have different ways of doing that. As I find things important, trivial, or significant, I want to express them through a visual means of communication. I am understanding my environment and picking out what’s important and what I want to share


Which facet of art do you find more favorable: aesthetic, conceptual, commentary, objectivity or something different entirely?

I find all of these to be equally significant and I emphasize one of those aspects more or less in a particular piece.


 
Michael Knight

 Michael Knight's exhibition opens November 30.