Is Ash The Purest Form Of White?

I saw the trailer last night for “Ash Is The Purest White”. It is a 2018 movie by Chinese writer/director Zhangke Jia. Part gangster movie. Part melodrama. It is an epic narrative on how abstract forces change individual lives.

I hope to watch it this week.

The movie got me thinking about a few things.

My work creates ash.

I believe the abstract nature of my explosions and fuse burning change the life each of my artworks.

But, for the most part my ash is sort of gray. At least is looks gray, sometimes black, when it smolders onto my paper, canvas or panel.

Looking closely at my work today. There is a very fine white looking ash, too.

So is ash white? Sometimes I guess.

Heat purifies things.

Things that burn at high temperature are more pure.

I like burning my art with the highest possible heat.

For the shortest possible times. (Otherwise the canvas gets destroyed.)

Pure heat. Pure art.

Does that make me an art racist?

I don’t think so. My explosions burn all colors equally.

My ash is black, gray and white.

Like all people.

Boom!

Artist Stick Vega studied mathematics and economics, earning a B.S. in economics from UW-Madison and an MBA from Edgewood College. He owned and was CEO of online apparel retailers WinterSilks and Venus Sportswear. However, upon selling the companies more than a decade ago he headed straight to his studio - The Blast Factory in Madison, WI - to create explosive, modern art with gunpowder and high-speed fuse. Stick's current work includes paintings, drawings, fusographs (exploded photographs) and writing. Please follow Stick on Facebook and/or Twitter.