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MICHAEL
HERMESH
Artist Statement Art as a discipline is a totally artificial construct, but it is one of the most beautiful ideas that we have created. My job as an artist is to discover truth and through my art to give it a name, this is done in the same way that a word in everyday use describes an idea or an object. The problem is that once a word is used to describe it, it in essence becomes an icon. When this is applied to reality it is at best an approximation, and at its worst, a lie. The artist wants to get at truth before it is named, and in so doing destroy realities contained in icons and assumptions. So art is always revolutionary destroying reality in favor of truth. As an artist I treat myself the same way, tearing myself down only to rebuild myself as best I can in a truer form, never expecting truth but always looking for it. I would suggest that rebuilding oneself constantly is the basis of sanity and on a larger scale this is the service that art provides society - a fundamental pathway to sanity. Art is vital and will continue to be vital as older images become icons, truth becomes shrouded, and new visions are required. Whenever I find myself not acting I am filled with joy and admiration… Michael Hermesh |
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Born 1955 in Spiritwood Saskatchewan,
Michael Hermesh studied art at Okanagan University College
and the Vancouver School of Art (Emily Carr). He also has extensive
experience in furniture design and ornamental carving. From his residence
and self-constructed studio, he continues to indulge his passion for
sculpting, as well as hold drawing workshops and sculpture courses.
His primary interest is figurative sculpture.
Michael’s public sculpture “The Frieze of the Arts” graces the façade of the Summerland Arts Center. “The Friends of the Garden” and the Summerland Chapter of The International Sculpture Symposium (through Agriculture Canada) have commissioned his “Standing Man” sculpture for the Summerland Research Station Ornamental Gardens. Michael’s work continues to be well received and is represented in international collections throughout Canada, Italy, Germany, and Spain. “My sculpture is about what makes us human and about what give us spiritual dignity and strength. My pieces always portray a dynamic aspect of living (force and counter force). I do this through composition, the effort, the restraint and through the battle of spirit with the constraints of situation.” “My feeling about art is that in any given moment the world is filled with images and objects that entertain, dazzle and stroke the senses but that there is precious little truth in our day-to-day lives. What I am drawn to is truth, that truth is deeper than the physical shell that houses it, that truth is a subjective vision.” “I feel very strongly that all art has narrative
content in the sense that for anything to exist there is tension and
an outcome. I also feel that my art will also always have mystic content
in so far that our relationship with a greater reality is part of what
makes us human." “Sculpture is capturing the transition from one state to another; thematically through movement and tension, in composition, and in the idea that spirit can be transmuted to flesh or day.” |
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