Learning from imitation

Well, I had a conversation (on the phone) with the man who had been copying my paintings (see August 13 entry). I have known him for several years and actually the conversation was good. When I saw his recent work, I was not as upset as before. Even though it bears a striking resemblance to mine (quite shockingly so), it is better than it had been and so I didn’t feel so insulted. There is nothing worse, to me, than having someone imitate my work and do it poorly! So not being angry when I talked to him really helped. I was able to present my feelings calmly and we had a decent conversation. I was not attacking nor he defensive. Although he had known for a while that I was not pleased with what he was doing, he was afraid to call me. He was glad I called so we could talk about it.

But I have a tendency to cough (and I really mean have a coughing fit) when I am nervous, which I definitely was at first. So I told him my cough was from having just been in my studio and we talked about fumes, occupational hazards and such.

Then I mentioned that I had seen his exhibit at the gallery. And also that in the past month, at least a half dozen people told me they saw his work and had mistaken it for mine. And that I found this upsetting. As I thought, he is not aware that this is not right, thinks it is his own work, etc. He asked me for advice on his work, which was a reasonable request under the circumstances in that he had been a student of mine years ago. I told him I felt he needed to leave out the collage (a signature part of my work), that the collage might have been a good starting point for him but it no longer felt necessary--and necessity is the most important element to consider in making art. I also told him to focus on imagery that is meaningful to him, has integrity in relation to his development.

I think he understood. We will see. I definitely feel better about the situation.

Posted by leya at August 30, 2004 07:22 PM