Surjan’s Aluminium Manifestations

Arts — 27 May 2012

Meditative art created from aluminium cans: minimal yet very involved

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3some

cherry blossom

corner

manifest #1

manifest #2

manifest #4

moon river

pink cloud

red block

2 signs

sweet peach

tunnel

white cloud

appletree

The medium that I have been using for the past four years is going to be my permanent one. It is: aluminum soda and beer cans. I cut them up into small pieces, normally the size of thumbnails, then stack and layer them up like fish scales to create my collages. Each of the cut-up thumbnails is a miniature piece of abstract art in itself. Traditional artists use the paint brush – I use staples to hold the thumbnails together.

Before I start a piece I have a certain idea as what to create. I can only do so much during the creative process. But the process and the end result is always beyond my imagination. There is no way that I can project and see the outcome of the piece. The result manifests and shows itself to me or the spectator.

It is pioneering work under many aspects. Besides the aesthetic part of the art, the medium is so luminescent that it can be enjoyed by day or night time: very little light needed. The edges are literally razor sharp. I want to create art that can never be duplicated by man nor machine. The further we go into the future, the less possible it will be to copy them. And the collages can last for centuries, since they are made from aluminum.

I don’t want to give any longer titles to my pieces because that will cause the viewer to imagine thing as if there is some hidden object to look for. Perhaps there is, perhaps there isn’t. The piece of art will manifest itself differently to each individual at different times. It is a momentous affair. It is what it is, and recently I refer to them and named them as ‘manifest’.

They are ‘minimal, yet very involved’.

Painting for me is a joy, a passion, and a meditation. You can see it in my art work. It is a manifestation: in darkness is light, a reflection from the ecstasy and stillness of meditation.

Surjan Deva Surjan (Chien Ngo) read Osho’s books in his teens, visited Rajneeshpuram and took sannyas there. He worked in commercial ad design until he took on art: first pastel, then oil, and later aluminium. He works and lives in Orange County, south of LA. He has been practising Aikido for 24 years and owns a private music school for children. www.cngoart.com – www.lagunaart.com

In April 2012 Surjan exhibited at the Townley Gallery, after being selected by the Laguna Art Group.

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