-Story by Angela Cowan
Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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Behind creeping ivy and sprawling holly bushes, at the bottom of an octagonal tower in a house built well over a century ago, artist Brad Pasutti creates labyrinthine paintings that straddle the borders between dreams and reality.
Figures blend into unusual architecture or fade partly into translucence, while disembodied hands and limbs provoke that surreal sense of disjointedness often found in our subconscious minds.
The artist himself is soft-spoken and reserved as he moves through his home. Walls covered to the inch with pieces from local artists, shelves of figurines and models from classic works of art and his husband鈥檚 astonishing mermaid collection speak to the couple鈥檚 passion and dedication to the world of visual art.
He sets down a cup of tea and takes a chair in his studio next to a four-foot-tall painting, glancing at the piece.
鈥淚 hope to achieve some qualities of the dream,鈥� says Pasutti of his work. 鈥淒reams were very important to me. It鈥檚 so different than the waking world.鈥�
In dreams, we jump from thought to thought, flitting between ideas that don鈥檛 always have a clear connection. Stare at one of Pasutti鈥檚 larger-than-life pieces in person and you鈥檒l find your eye roaming from detail to detail, unable to focus on any one thing for long. It鈥檚 a reflection of the chaotic state of our slumbering minds, but also the wandering nature of daydreaming.
It鈥檚 what Pasutti calls the 鈥減olyphony of being鈥� and relates to how people can be out in the world doing ordinary things, but our minds are constantly moving from one thought to the next, propelled by memories, the things we see, conversations we have, even music we hear.
鈥淚 want my paintings to be about what鈥檚 going on in people鈥檚 minds,鈥� he says. 鈥淰ery few people are just in the moment.鈥�
Pasutti鈥檚 formal training started with a three-year honours diploma in sculpture from the Kootenay School of Art, completed in 1979, after which he achieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in 1983. He was greatly inspired by Hieronymus Bosch, as well as Escher, Picasso and others. His original goals included researching conservation of artwork, but the intricacies of the science took him too far from the art itself.
鈥淚 realized I wasn鈥檛 into the sciences,鈥� he says. Though fascinated by lay science, the details of conservation 鈥渟eemed too removed from the actual process of doing art.鈥�
The 鈥済eeky鈥� side of painting continued to appeal, however, and the actual construction of the pigments attracted his interest. With his newest series, Pasutti has been experimenting with different mediums to mix with the oils to 鈥渟ee how they behave.鈥�
Linseed oil, a common base in oil paints, can be 鈥渓ight and flowing or heavy and viscous,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd that has a huge influence on how you鈥檙e working.鈥�
鈥淭he technological or geeky part is a whole different part,鈥� he says, becoming animated as he talks about the ingredients used: casein, egg, plant derivatives. 鈥淭he actual handling of paint, I want to explore that too. They don鈥檛 teach you that in school.鈥�
But before he even begins work with his hand-ground colours, he starts his process by taking hundreds (if not thousands) of photos and then cutting and arranging them digitally to form a draft image he鈥檒l work from.
| Artist Brad Pasutti in his Victoria studio. Don Denton photography |
His newest works-in-progress explore youth and wonder.
鈥淚 saw a small bush hedge that had a little dip down into the grass,鈥� he says of his inspiration. 鈥淐hildhood sees those as magical spaces. I wanted to capture childhood.鈥�
After enlisting the help of his great-nephew and niece as models, Pasutti is now in the digital draft stage, discovering the stories the images tell with each click of his mouse. Though, there鈥檚 no guarantee the final piece will look anything like the drafts, he says.
As often happens in creative pursuits, the project takes on its own personality and the images 鈥渒ind of grow鈥� as Pasutti begins to work with actual paints.
鈥淥nce I start painting, it becomes an object, and there鈥檚 a dialogue between the works,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e had works where what I started with鈥lmost none of that actually ends up on the painting.鈥�
And unexpected figures sometimes creep in as well. In several of Pasutti鈥檚 works, familiar faces from one of the artist鈥檚 favourite pieces, Bosch鈥檚 The Garden of Earthly Delights, kept appearing as he worked, sometimes to his chagrin.
But 鈥渢he painting has to go in its own direction, and sometimes it surprises you.鈥�
Inspired by a family with great respect for the arts, Pasutti has been exploring different perspectives since childhood.
鈥淢y father was a poet and a writer,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e used to bring art books home all the time. And my uncle went to art school. He was like a big brother to me.鈥�
They encouraged Pasutti to explore his natural inclinations to view the world on a slant, and helped sow the seeds for his work to come.
As a child, Pasutti would walk around his home with a mirror pointed at the ceiling, seeing how the world was turned upside down. And from early childhood he would often dream of being in the depths of a labyrinth, having found secret doors in his home, or hidden floors and spaces.
鈥淚 was always so happy,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 enjoy just wandering.鈥�
These days, Pasutti lives every day in his art. Inspiration strikes while walking the dog, wandering library stacks, even working on his iPhone.
鈥淚鈥檓 always working,鈥� he says with a laugh. He still dreams occasionally of labyrinths and secret places 鈥� his love of a complicated unknown as strong as ever.
