When it comes to the creating of art, I’m an elitist. To qualify, I mean that the people who make art should be those who are in some way removed. They are not conforming or going along with the mainstream in their life styles and attitudes. They need to be separate from all that either pulling from some inner resource or as part of a group that sets itself apart from the mass. That’s what I mean by elitist.

At the same time, I believe that when it comes to the acceptance or rejection of an artist’s work then that is best done in a non-elitist context. In other words, the majority decides by some collective means whether a work is relevant to them, whether that be for entertainment, enlightenment or just as some passing interest like a consumer item which catches the moment and is then put aside. Appreciation would correspond to something in the values associated with the time.

So the artist needs to be set aside from time and place in some way in order to create, privileged perhaps. When the work comes forward the privilege stops and the full force of populist assessment kicks in to determine its worth.