What would prompt a person to set his canvas on fireIJ Steven Spazuk, better known as a fire artist in the Canadian art circles shares his fiery ideas with Devi Singh, interpreting his sketches drawn out of flames and soot and how he uses them to assess the fleeting human emotions
Imagine standing in a gallery, admiring at a grayscale work of art, a landscape, created entirely from the soot of fire. Sounds way too abstractIJ Well that’s because it’s coming out of someone’s dream. The limitlessness of the power of human imagination and the subliminal state is stimulating. For most of us dreams propel our life journey, whispering to us the secrets of a greater vision, inspiring us to act on them. How do we do it though is our call. And Steven acted upon it with all his ingenuity. Over the last 16 years he has been developing and perfecting the soot painting technique. And the great part about this distinct creative process is that it always has an element of spontaneity and improvisation. The fluidity and flux of the smoke, the possibilities of the unknown shapes makes it an ever evolving process with a sense of edge.
For Steven, whose repertoire majorly comprises human impressions being cast with smoke on the canvas, smoke makes the vulnerable human emotions come out better than the stroke of a brush. “Creativity comes in different manners and shape but to me pure creativity comes from unfiltered freedom. Searching the abstract form, I wait for a figurative revelation...like when I was a child looking up at the clouds,” says he. Even the younger version of him was very shy and he would always be painting, drawing others attention to his work. It sort of programmed him to become an artist. “I always saw me like one. It was clear to me that my life would revolve around art.”
For the uninitiated the fire method that he uses is called fumage, which is the use of a kerosene lamp or candle to create smoke, leaving impressions on the canvas. You can later use a brush, feather or metal scraper to get the best manipulations out of the soot. It is basically as-you-go, spontaneous craft, not necessarily following a set pattern. “Creating art with a free spirit is quite like leaving for an unknown destination. Often, when I enter my studio, I have no idea what I’m going to do. Seconds before lighting my lighter, I know absolutely nothing; as I begin the process, the desire to set out onto this uncharted road and provoke accidental events lead me to my art...I feel that I am sitting in the front row of creation. I see shapes forming before me and let myself be guided in those directions. I feel in a zen-like zone and it gets very meditative,” he explains.
Fire is both a constructive and destructive force, probably the most powerful of the five elements. So what does it signify to himIJ “It’s inspiring. Fire consumes, warms, and illuminates but can also bring pain and death, thus, its symbolic meaning varies wildly, depending upon the context of its use. I mostly use it to talk about life’s fragility. Exploring this fragility is the very essence of my work as a fire artist. The soot on paper is extremely fragile, it can easily be altered by any contact. Anything that brushes or touches the soot will leave its trace and that medium is part of me. It defines me as an artist.” He goes on, “I came to be associated with fire and for that reason it serves me to talk about "burning” issues that go up in smoke, like life and endangered species.”
So can the other elements of nature be used to create artIJ He gives an affirmation saying, why not and started talking about Emily Parsons-lord, who works with air in a very interesting way. He talks about how he wanted to work with milk, the very symbolic of all liquids. Maybe it’s a hint enough for his future works.
Talk about his most cherished work till date and pat comes the reply, “The Monarch project launched by my life partner, Danielle Delhaes and me two years ago. It’s a unique collection of art based on the traces left by living creatures, symbolising the precariousness of animal and plant life on earth.”
The biggest challenge of painting with fire is preservation of the work. So how does he preserve his work as it is not the regular oil on canvas. It’s soot after all. “The soot is fragile and sensitive to touch, I’m always holding my breath when working with a piece because anything that touches the surface will leave a trace. Also, I spray varnish on my work to keep it intact.”
The reactions to his first fumage work were, and still are, very positive and encouraging as it is unique. So are there any dangers involvedIJ “There is no danger in this practice if you are careful. The only “accident” was having a drop of wax in my eye. The only advice he would want to give to the younger artists influenced by his work is to never do something not related to your goals. Stay true to yourself because authenticity never lies. True that.
A conservationist by nature, his work has a deeper idea, cause and social message. He has this constant urge to talk about life’s fragility and the place we occupy on the planet. “I am always preoccupied by the ecosystem, even my works are often based on endangered animals, equally conceptual and representational. After all soot is pollution, it is black carbon, and to use that matter to talk about these issues, it makes sense to me,” he signs off.
(The artist is currently working with the iconic American brand zippo on the flame art project.)