STANDING on the beach looking towards the horizon the lines of swell look like corduroy. A couple of hundred metres south, the same swell lines radiate like spokes from a wheel from a rocky point. A pleasing enough sight to some, but pure patterns of nature to Anthony Wood.
Wood’s thoughts of patterns invariably lead him to seeing patterns in just about anything.
The Mount Martha artist goes for a walk, sees trees, leaves and seeds and thinks of patterns.
A keen surfer, he looks at and photographs cliffs and surf breaks around the Mornington Peninsula and imagines how they would look if overlaid with a pattern. Close-ups of peoples’ faces at a family dinner are given the same computerised, eye catching treatment, even if such focussed attention is not always appreciated.
It’s widely agreed that the beauty and relevance of art is in the eyes and mind of the beholder. The works of acknowledged past masters, whether painting, sculpture or architecture, can’t be ignored, but they don’t have to be liked, although the skills behind the creations can’t be denied.
Some decades ago, debate raged over whether surfing was an art or a sport. The outcome, if there was one, escapes me. But if prize money equals sport, modern surfing fits the latter category. If there seems to be a pattern to what you’ve just read, stand by, it’s about to be repeated in one form or another.
Surf photographer and filmmaker Jack McCoy sees the opportunities that recording (initially on film, then video and now digitally) surfing presents from an artistic point of view. His images show how surfers utilise waves. Graceful, sometimes ripping, but always flowing.
Wood – inspired and fascinated by the surrealist painters — explored the gamut of various mediums which eventually led to him manipulating surf shots (lifted from the net) and covering them with various patterns that he created. His abstract patterns stemmed from a background in textile design. He shared his efforts with a small Instagram audience. And there they sat, somewhere in the Insta universe. And then along came McCoy. Seemingly out of nowhere. He liked what he saw of the patterns Wood was adding to surf shots and sent some of his own work to be “abstracted”.
For Wood, the pattern was set while “doing art” in the 1970s. His parents were importing clothing from India and he “drifted in to the fashion design course at RMIT before switching to textile design”. “This was the era of new wave music and DIY fashion, and I was happily engaged in screen printing textiles and making patterns.”
Wood subsequently moved “in and out of the art and education sectors, sandwiching these roles with labouring, market stalls and retail jobs”. He exhibited works on paper and prints at coastal galleries before switching to digital-based art and “less fashionable subject matter — no more flowers in vases”.
Health issues saw a change in lifestyle with early retirement and “a few hours a week playing with images and patterns on my desktop”. “Along with surfing, making images has always been a source of comfort and reflection for me,” he said. “Most of my recent work has been autobiographical, using visual metaphors and symbols to process different events in my life, as well as personal observations about the state of the world.
“During COVID, I used to sit in bed for many hours cutting and pasting bits of photographs off the internet, building little scenes then posting them to Instagram.” Parts of those files were used to create repeating textile patterns “which I repurposed into new images”.
He now produces patterns from his own photos to create framed prints on fabric. “Many of these have been influenced by coastal and surf culture as it has played an important role in my life,” Wood said. “After posting these online I got a call from Jack McCoy saying we should collaborate on a few images, these would be based on still frames from his incredibly influential surf documentaries and presentations.
“At first I was a bit starstruck, but for the last couple of months I have been surrounded by his amazing visual library and being able to do basically whatever I like with it. It has been inspirational to say the least.”
Wood plans to have about a dozen large textile prints based on McCoy’s images finished by the end of the year. “This is so weird getting this opportunity so late in life, but I’m just taking things day by day and not trying to pretend I’m anything other than who I am,” he said.
Wood says creating his patterns “blends traditional methods with modern technology”. “I get inspiration from a variety of sources — from sketches and photographs to magazines and online images. Then, I’ll shape everything together to create something new, whether it’s a pattern for fabrics or a design for my artwork.”
He has looked into it but is steering clear of artificial intelligence (AI). “I’ll stick to using my own drawings and photos to develop my patterns, and I’ll limit myself to old software apps for their construction. That means no AI In the mix. “I love the hands-on aspect of creating, and I worry about losing the sense of satisfaction that comes with it. “These simple decisions will help me stay true to my personal vision and keep the enjoyment alive in my creative process.”
See the work of Anthony Wood at: anthonywoodartistsketchbook.blogspot.com
First published in the Mornington News – 13 August 2024
