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Those of us alive in this age have been afforded a great opportunity in our ability to access immeasurable amounts of knowledge denied to generations past. We have illuminated books hid in dim cloisters and uncovered eclipsed lamps of wisdom with the anarchistic, equalizing powers of technology.

Peering into the past, we can see what an immense and humbling artistic legacy we have inherited. Throughout the ages, art has always been a source of controversy. There have always been those who have feared art, and perhaps they have been right to do so, for when pure and uncorrupted, it has immense psychic power and ability to affect people. Art is an attempt to state in aesthetic creation the deepest, most profound experiences of humanity. It is the projection of inner vision, communion with the absolute, the music of the soul manifested.

The work of Watson Atkinson is visionary and fearless. The style he embraces pays homage to a boundless pantheon of creative forbears, adeptly interweaving disparate traditions to produce works that reach rarified heights of understanding. By abstracting elements from classical tradition and reorganizing them with a post-modern approach, an entirely original context arises which reflects a great synergy of thought and emotion. It is an alchemical fusion bound by a surreal and mystical logic. It rejects those who would be arbiters, those who would lay upon artistic endeavor their own strictures and prejudices. It fears not the negative criticism of such individuals, for it is truly the last refuge of the wholly uninteresting person to assail another's eccentricity.

There is a somewhat reckless and unpredictable quality to Atkinson's handiwork that stems from a will to deviously and mercilessly juxtapose wildly divergent styles. Yet it still shows an abiding respect for traditional technique and aesthetics, as well as veneration for the hermetic mysteries of more obscure and esoteric subgenres of all types of art. Although heavily influenced by the conceptual revolutions of Dadaism and Surrealism, he does not share the contempt for classical learning that is sometimes associated with these movements. On the contrary, he rejoices in resurrecting the ghosts of antiquity and dressing them in the raiments of modernity. The effect is nothing short of shamanistic.

Elegantly leaping from one medium to the next, he is equally comfortable working in the realms of assemblage, painting, tattoo, collage, and a variety of other forms of expression. He brings to every project a unique and innovative philosophy that allows for great freedom of interpretation. The results are often bizarre and otherworldly, like chimeras grafted together by some mad scientist from pieces of a hundred different creatures.

Driven by creative wanderlust, he is compelled constantly to explore the murky depths of human consciousness and understanding. His enigmatical works belie an insatiable desire to challenge his own perceptions, and consequently those of his audience as well. Offerings tonics for the speculative and inquisitive mind, these pieces bespeak a great and secret divination.

This is true Art: adventurous, selfless, and inspirational. With deft hand and keen eye, condensing spirit into matter, Atkinson acheives a sublime syzygy of fascinating insight and undeniable force.

Syzygy (IPA: ['s?z.?.?i]) is a kind of unity, especially through coordination or alignment, most commonly used in the astronomical and/or astrological sense [1]. Syzygy is derived from the Late Latin syzygia, "conjunction," from the Greek s?????? (syzygos), "yoked together."

--N. Skinner

Molecular biologist, martial arts instructor, stunt performer

Postscriptum: To see more of Atkinson's work, please visit WatsonAtkinson.com

TO CONNECT WITH WATSON: Please contact the shop at 207-553-1933




For articles and reviews, please visit:
Creative Loafing Article
Prick Magazine Interview