By M Sebastian Araujo

  Sometimes one truly gets a glimpse into the vision of an artist through the work that was created and sometimes one gets a different view of the world around them because of the work that was created by an artist. Paul Bowen is such an artist. His mixed media sculptures capture the world around us and show us a new way of seeing because he has culled and curated works of art from the world around him. Combing form and color and textures of found objects, he presents  a new vision of the world around us all. Recently I had a chance to find out how he creates ….

What in the World around you affects your creativity?
The erosion of form..and our attempts to delay its progress, archaeology, simple architecture. Spring tides, broken tools, collections of stuff. The studio floor needs sweeping and that leads to working. The random juxtaposition of things. Yard sales flea markets. There is an old barn near our house, part of the roof is gone exposing the contents of the attic.

How do you feel that technology has changed Art?
Technology has always affected art, particularly in the refinement of tools over the millennia. Today we have an immense range of choices. But questions of integrity and quality stay the same.

Why do people create  Art?
Its part of what we do as humans, we’ve been at it for thousands of years. Art leaves a mark in the world,  “we were here”.

 Was there a “Shinning Lightbulb” moment in life when you knew you were or had to be an Artist?
Not so much a moment as a drift, but it started early. We had reproductions of impressionist paintings hanging in our  house. There was an old dam nearby where I dug clay and made  projects..little spheres with string imbedded in them. Then I started painting in boarding school as an escape, a few kids ran away, I painted.

How do you begin to work on a project?
Over the years I’ve gathered a big inventory of materials . Although I carry ideas around in my head and sketchbook, once I get started those ideas are usually abandoned. I’ll often make a stack of like kinds of material on the floor and see     where they lead. I work on lots of things at the same time so theres always something that needs to be done.

What is it about Provincetown that keeps creative people either living there fulltime or drawing them to its shores?
Although I was born in a coastal town, it had much less of an impact on me than Provincetown. Other artists, beachcombing, the summer craziness, quiet winters and eventually the light was all fuel for me.

Art like Life has such a rich and varied form…how good it is to know that amid all the flurry of changes challenges and chance in this world of ours ART and Artists such as Paul Bowen keep us seeing things in new and interesting way ….

To Find out more about Paul’s Work Click Here:

http://paulbowen.org/