Artistic Vision

This is the reason for the title of my blog, and the reasons my art is what it is.

I begin simply that I am a clown.  However, I do not fit the normal “concept” of “clown.”  You will find that I have never worn a red nose, an over-sized, loud costume, or over-sized shoes.  I have seldom worn a white face or goofy wig, nor tied balloon animals.  I am simply a Fool.

Many of us know the Fool as the Court Jester, a character described by Shakespeare and historians as a wise, truth-speaking character.  However, this character was often the victim of his own shortcomings.  Most Fools had speech, physical, or mental impediments.  The Court would spend their time laughing at how clumsily he walked or stuttered about.  They never heard the eloquent words the Fool spoke, only laughed at the physical deformity.  This, combined with a slight touch of anarchy, kept the Fool from “fitting in” or “being normal,” and thus, solitary.  Cast into the fringes of society, the fool was the perfect witness to the comings and goings of the public at large.

With many performers, my clown is my alter-ego.  His name is Caesar, a rather innocent ten-to-twelve-year-old child.  Like most children, he is at home deep within his imagination, playing the role of pirate or some other entity, freely exploring an imagined world.  However, like most children just learning to play with a new toy, he lacks control, and the imagination gets the upper hand by creating a monster under the bed or in the closet or basement.  So, his best friend, and his worst enemy, is his imagination.  However, imagination is the flying carpet that allows Caesar to constantly journey in search of new discoveries and new ways to express those jewels of wonder.  Through this, Caesar is kept connected to the energies that swim around him, he is aware, and grounded to the world that we all live in, which can never be one color, one person, one idea, one texture, or one physical plain of existence.  Caesar’s journey becomes life’s journey, a journey that is as open as one can be to the world’s textures, colors, and forms.  Consequently, Caesar’s journey is filled with brightness, joy, and freshness.

So, my art is the creation of worlds as they are lived and interpreted through my clown, Caesar.  These sketches, if you will, come to me in the form of stories, pictures, and dialogues.  This is why my expression is not just in one form, but in many (storytelling, writing, performing, directing, painting, drawing, photographing, and video-making).  I simply listen to Caesar, and the doorways are open.

                                                                                     --Roy Edward Power      April, 2011

Keep coming back.  New things are added periodically.  Also, to check out my visual art, go to www.mnartists.org.  Look for Roy Edward Power.  Follow me Facebook.  Thanks.