Adelaide-based artist Alan Todd is one of the lucky few who have always known what they were meant to do in life. At 14, Todd already knew he intended to be an artist – an age where most of us are still getting used to no longer being a child, let alone contemplating something so existential as one’s purpose in the world. In his words, “creativity is an ongoing process and I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t creative, or found inspiration in just about everything.”
In the five decades since, Todd has experimented with almost every medium. From painting and sculpture to contemporary dance, branching into film-making and novel writing, the artist has been unafraid to try his hand at anything he thinks may give voice to the ideas he wishes to express.
“The idea always comes first, and the medium second,” he says. “Each piece of work is in some way based upon an experience, a thought, or an observation, so in some way they are all autobiographical.” He is especially interested in time as a concept, and the way in which it affects his understanding of the world. As such, his work does not tend towards realism, nor is it confined to one single style. Instead, Todd’s work is defined by its freedom, both aesthetic and conceptual.
This kind of aesthetic approach comes with a lot of hard work. Todd’s day begins at 6am sharp, after which he labours continuously until the late afternoon, when he then turns his mind towards writing and research. “It wasn’t so much falling in love with art as realising this was to be my life,” says Todd, this intensive process of art making and creative thinking not only occupying his time but also conferring it with substance and meaning. Though his skills across the various creative genres is vast, it seems rest is not in his repertoire.
Todd tends to work in series, exploring each idea or experience until he finds a visual or experiential resolution for them. These series can be short, commemorating a recent experience, or years in the making. Each finds form in whatever medium suits best. Acrylics are fast drying, so perfect for swift and purposeful mark-making, while oil paints are colour-dense and slow to dry, and thus more appropriate for extended introspection. In the case of his most recent series, Conversations with my Father, Todd utilised wood and repurposed found objects to facilitate a conceptual impasse of differing minds.
Todd’s practice is an exercise in versatility, wherein lived experience and philosophical introspection are paramount. The artist immortalises his thought processes with whatever best communicates their essence, generating an oeuvre that spans an astonishing array of mediums, and creating unique connections between art and audience.
Featured image: Artist Alan Todd. Courtesy: the artist.