David Owen Woods Contemporary Art

Conceptual Foundation:

Elementalism: The view that things are constructed from simpler elements. Wiktionary

Elementalism: A tendency to postulate a separation into independent entities or elements of things (such as mind and body, space and time) that can be only verbally so separated. Merriam-Webster

Minimalism and Elementalism: With regard to the works presented here, these two terms (concepts) are used in a very bespoke way. They are not isms in the classic sense. They are not scientifically acurate terms or historical references. They are merely convenient descripters to assist the artistic construct. In this context minimalism is essentially a reductive process. Supurflous elements are progressively removed until only the pure idea remain. Elementalism by contrast is the opposite swing of the pendulum. It infers an additive process. Rather than reducing down to the fundamental, elementalism emanates from the fundamental and progresses toward complexity. Elementalism underlies all the work. It may be more or less apparent in an individual work but is always conceptually present. It is the foundation for the exploration of various themes such as order and disorder (chaos), energy and matter, form and space.