One of my main interests is in the relationships possible between texts and images. This area of interest I believe largely goes back to the fact the I am autistic and have a fair amount of dyslexia. This in turn lead to an interest in visual arts as a form of communication. Over time this was joined by an interest in language as I eventually learned to read, and even later to write. This is a largely under explored area in art since being largely abandoned in the renaissance, and only vary occasionally taken up since (though Wm. Blake and Wm. Morris certainly did great work in this area).
I like to use carefully designed lettering on my work, that interacts in various ways with the images. I think that this allows for interactions that can create rich layering both of reinforcement, and of contrast, of meanings and of style.
I also am very strongly drawn to the Chinese and wider East Asian tradition of combining images, and poetry in calligraphy. This tradition is much richer then anything that the West has to offer in this area, and there has been much critical debate through the centuries over the proper relation between word and image—should they reinforce, extend, or challenge each other: and even the more basic question of wither it is helpful for pictures and writing to interact or not. Related to this I find the techniques of Chinese brush painting especially appropriate for capturing the natural world, having both a spontaneity, and a simplicity of materials that lends it a more essential quality then found in much of Western art. I would also like to give an explanation of the Chinese signature seals that I have used on the brush paintings. All the seals were carved by myself, in soft stone, with full or just family name transliterated in seal script. Signature (and other) seals have been widely used throughout east Asia since the Han dynasty, and have been considered more important than signatures as such. They are widely used on, and add a note of color contrast to, ink paintings.
My poetry likewise draws from a range of traditions, from ancient to modern, eastern and western. The most important of these are traditional English verse, middle & old English alliterative verse, and both the Chinese and Japanese poetic traditions (which, it should be noted, are more formal then more recent translations may suggest),. My inclination to more structured and formal verse is (I believe) strongly influenced by my autism. In that I find that far from limiting my expression, using formal structures (i.e. rhyme, metres, alliteration, stanza, etc.), by giving my logical mind something to chew on, frees my emotional and spiritual mind to have more, not less expression. I also personally find structured verse more memerable then ‘free verse’, and often more emotionally effective as well.
Michael Hannon
