selections from
"Beyond Boundaries"

(Preface to "BRIDGING TIME & SPACE")

by Richard Newman, President of SLMM 1986-2003

For some individuals the term “layering” presents an enigma, a word difficult to relate to artists and their image–making activity. To others, the term can suggest a method so common that it fails to acquire any meaning beyond a technical nature. Surely artists construct their works over time; therefore, materials are applied in successive layers, but understanding the source that shapes these layers of imagery and determines their fusion is another matter. To probe, “layering” fully as a cognitive process one needs to engage a deeper view of the creative mind...

Layering as an approach to creative expression recognizes the many dimensions that shape an artist's sense of personal growth and achievement. It articulates a procedure that is equally additive and subtractive as it reaches for completion and authenticity. It also brings into focus how many strata of the mind one actually taps during the process of conceiving, nurturing and refining a creative idea or product.

The term “layering,” when used metaphorically, can explain the mind's search for both personal and communal meaning. It lends itself easily to an interdisciplinary mindset that draws connections between all domains of knowledge while blurring the edges of traditional media of expression. Essentially, it honors the human quest to reach "beyond boundaries" to make sense of our human condition. Like the two-faced Roman god, Janus, the artist looks both forward and backward in charting his or her own journey in time and space…

Layering, by our definition, reaches across cultural divides and time barriers to unite the human spirit with the natural environment and the world community, both past and present. A premise adopted by the Society of Layerists is found in the following words of Wassily Kandinsky: “The relationships in art are not necessarily ones of outward form, but are founded on inner sympathy of meaning.”

 

To order "Bridging Time and Space" send an email to: info@slmm.org

 

SLMM

The Society of Layerists in Multi-Media is a non-profit organization intended to serve as a network for artists who express a holistic perspective. The Layering process is individualistic, but there are relationships among Layerists’ techniques. They frequently add or take away material, layer by layer as an analogue for aspects of nature, and the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Most Layerists are mature, proficient artists who have achieved a meditative level of creativity. They imbue their work with meaning. Therefore, we say that it is not the technique that distinguishes a Layered work of art so much as the mind of the artist who creates it. The layers we refer to are both physical and metaphorical.

SLMM is open to all interested persons as Associate Members. Full membership is available to artists who submit slides for review along with answers to several questions about the Layering premise.

For information about joining SLMM, send an email toinfo@slmm.org