Richard Callner, Visiting Artist Lecture 1973

Richard Callner gives a lecture at Skowhegan presenting a series of slides of his work in tapestries, weavings, paintings, sculpture, and works on paper. Callner shares his stories and narratives are drawn from biography, biblical histories, and mythology. Callner states that he refuses to rely on traditional composition when constructing his paintings. He then discusses his experiences working with a tapestry studio, a process which taught him not to copy an oil painting, but to change the image for translation from painting into textile. Callner tells the students that using a single subject as a series can expand their practice. It offers a way to expand a structure and create narratives that have a contemporary dialogue. Callner goes more into detail about spending time in the tapestry workshop and the mechanics of transformation of painting into tapestry. Callner describes the difficulty to make changes to a tapestry once it is finished, and how one must work with textile artisans to understand the craft and its limits. Callner believes that it is possible to build a contemporary dialogue through the pattern of images he creates, where the narratives and the figures coexist harmoniously. Callner ends his lecture by reflecting on the theme of hell as an interesting topic for him to explore as an artist. This closing segment also includes discussion of Hieronymous Bosch.