Miles Davis said, “It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play.” This is something you hear from musicians from time to time about the space between the notes. Artists also have a similar relationship with the power of negative space. Sometimes it’s the negative space in a piece that gives it its vibe. I’ve been conceptualizing using this practice for some time, and in this piece I was able to have much of the canvas close to empty.
Another Gord piece isn’t much of a stretch for a Canadian artist that focuses on living in a rock and roll space. This is pretty much a follow up single to my first Gord piece. In that initial piece, I wanted a fierce and intense version of the man who had vigilantly fought glioblastoma while he embarked on a cross Canada curtain call. However, for this concept I wanted to portray the other side of him. I wanted to capture that incomparable stage presence, the poetic ad libbing linguist, and the ever-complicated relationship with his microphone stand - who couldn’t understand that it wasn’t a man.
It’s arrogant to think you can speak for a large percentage of a population, but I’m probably not far off saying that a lot of us, at one time or another since his passing, have “looked up to the lord above and said, hey man, thanks”.
-Stickman
