the primal emotion is what moves the artist
"All sensations are primal, pristine and precious pulsating, pushing and promising," said Dean Howell.
When you walk into the Open Studios at 805 Early Street, you first encounter a wooden sign with the hand-written word "Primal." Moving up the wooden flight of stairs with BARE walls awash in earth tones, a large painting of a face with piercing eyes meets you Continuing into the first room, a giguntic cast-resin head with black skin, red lips and eyes looking longingly off into the distance also welcomes you.
A resin woman lies naked on a patch of sand. She is not ugly and she is not beautiful, she is daunting and somehow she is alive and awake.
This feeling of being alive is what artist Dean Howell is con- tinually striving for.
"How do you express yourself on a daily basis? Is it true, what you feel, or what the world expects of you?" Howell has been asking these questions most of his 67 years.
In a fearful society that places so much emphasis on masking the mith and hiding true emo- tions, artist and sculptor Howell is bursting with statements, both written and visual, about the effects of primal experiences on the evolutionary chain.
For Howell, exploring the truths and effects of primal experiences has been the impetus for his exhibition, Dean Howell, Primal.
"Primal truths effect how an individual lives," Howell said. "By exploring primal experi- ences such as our reactioms to unconscious fears and or sense of beauty, it is possible to discover more freedom and personal meaning in everyday life."
Howell works with many materials including bronze, clay, wood, steel, resins, oils and acrylics. Like the mixed media he pours into his artistic vision, there are also many levels of our primal selves — fear, pleasure, and disgust — waiting to be engaged.
For Howell, art is about get- ting in touch with these primal sensatiorus, honoring and allowing them to create a clear and finite within one's awareness. When expressed by the artist, these sensations invite the audience to awaken to similar truths.
The point is in attending to these primal urges without fear," he said.
"We need to learn to embrace our sensations without thinking or judging them. We are creating a sense of freedom that bberates us on many levels. By acknowledging our core feelings — not as an observer, but as a feeler — we are inspired toward living the truth. By moving away from the basic instincts of fear and approaching the truth of our existence, we are able to overcome many obstacles whether they are in our personal, professional or love lives.
This also lends us to realize our fear of the unknown," he said. "We are often afraid that our real thoughts and feelings will not be acceptable, or that our coping tactics will be found out... so we cover them up with words, denial, or forms of entertainment. Without the coping tactics, we are then free to embrace and express hte integrity of the truth that is surging inside of us.
The trick to overcoming this unknown is to surrender. To go into a situation not holding negativity, a feeling of superior- ity, or fear but rather a feeling calmness, achieved through fearlessness."
Howell welcomes this process of "surrendering" in his life. He has discovered the importance of being able to genuinely "give in" without the fear or feeling of being personally diminished. "My point is that it is far past the time that we should get starting in dealing with these fears and more pleasant primal experiences ... such as love," he said.
Howell found his soul's purpose by chance. Feeling creative even as a child, he was trying to satisfy the longing of a need by creating, sawing or hammering even though they had no practical meaning.
Howell was born in Kentucky and later moved to Ohio. Although he grew up in a family that never spoke of art, his father and grandfather could build anything. Going off to college with a football scholarship, Howell felt that something was missing. In a part-time job, he began drawing. It felt right. He decided to forgo his football career and enter the art department in college. They asked him for his portfolio.
"I didn't know what a portfolio was but I guessed to avoid embarrassment." he said. Howell quickly created one. When he presented it, he was told that the "art department expects more than this." Howell begged for another chance and got it.
He then developed his natural abilities quickly and exhibited his work professionally before graduating. He has averaged one exhibition a year since 1963 and has shown in commercial galleries, university galleries, studios and museums across the country, alongside Andy Warhol and Wayne Thiebaud, among others.
After graduating, Howell received a doctorate in art education and a master's degree in counseling psychology. He has taught all levels, including kindergarten through post-graduate studies, mnost notably at Parsons School of Design in New York and most recently at Santa Fe Community College. He now teaches privately in his studio in Eldorado.
In 2005, his Big Head series was featured in an exhibition in the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe. He also showed here in another exhibition, Explorations in Bronze: Degas and New Mexico Sculptors.
In Dean Howell, Primal, Howell is representing "the show of his life."
"I have been asked by many people in the art world to sacrifice my vision for a more positive and happy demonstration," he said. "I have often heard 'if you just put a smile on that woman or painting we could do an exhibition for you.' On this, I am not willing to compromise.
"These images are what stir the primal feeling in my audience. Though my exhibition might be difficult for some to see, understand, and/or accept, if people are shaken up because they wake-up, the exhibition fits!"
Because of Howell's commitment, others are noticing. "Dean Howell is a true messenger of the arts," said Scott Christopher, who with his wife, Elizabeth, has created Christopher Foundation for the Arts, forme to continue the development of the creative process on local, national, nad international levels.
This year they have chosen Howell as the foundation's major effort. His work will be featured in a film documentary that will be offered in every college and university art department in the countary.
"Dean is a ture artist in every form. He is the real thing," Christopher said. "His work teaches others in a most profound way."
For more information on Dean Howell, go to deanhowellstudios.com. For more information on the Christopher Foundation For the Arts, go to www.cffta.org.
Published in The New Mexican El Dorado Edition, 2007-10-31.
