Profile: Frank Mann — Inside the Mind of a Successful Artist and Visionary

After years of formal schooling, Frank began studying human vision and perception, beginning with Hasan Ibn al-Haytham and progressing through the history of the science of seeing. He was significantly impacted by an early interest in science discipline, which led him to place nature at the centre of his art. It was via the language of painting that Frank began to personally experience his close contact with nature. As a professional, he believes the art to be informed by his own ideas on what constitutes visionary facts.

Speaking of his work, the majority of the paintings are an outgrowth of his fascination in vision and visual phenomena. The Oculus cycle is the most recent example. It is a phrase used to refer to the tip of the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, as well as other architectural components that emit light, such as circular windows, apertures, and skylights.

The majority of the work is inspired by an internal model rather than by a description of natural objects or a virtual scenario; it is inspired by his imagination. And here, the primary goal for him was to develop a visual language, and thus to generate images never seen before. The method necessitates an openness to what is revealed via effort.

Frank views painting largely as a field in which he feels free to express concepts not previously expressed. Finally, the paintings investigate the relationship between the enigma of visual perception and pictorial art by portraying the processes of seeing and externalizing the image in a concrete form, in order to make it more real or tangible. His utmost desire is to represent vision in its purest form.

Shunning aesthetics in favor of a more direct experience, he seems to have retained a passionate interest in experiential and visual phenomena, which has resulted in work that is distinctly essentialist.

His works target a more general experience that could be described as humanistic in nature, as opposed to social or political content that seeks specificity. Form is approached via a defined context of his own terminology that pushes the boundaries of image in the direction of a greater universal wisdom. After a lengthy time of effort, the primary goal here is to develop a visual language and thus to produce unique work, utilizing processes that, through experience, allow the imagination to run wild.

Frank Mann is also inspired by many artists. The decision to avoid working with recognized images or directly from nature (representation) is critical, as is the concentration of his abilities on a method that involved working from ‘the inside-out’ rather than ‘the outside-in’ as dealing with the visible world required.

These concepts about process are more authentic. Indeed, this method of working appeared more in keeping with works of art where he formed a connection.

“As an artist, I believe that one is drawn to and resonates more with artists with whom one senses a shared creative process. I was recently taken by a statement made by author Lynn Gamwell in her book, Exploring the Invisible, on Paul Cezanne’s painting, ‘he rendered his subjective perception of the natural world’s structure,’” shares Frank.

“I’ve always had a strong interest in sensory and visual phenomena. I feel that acceptance of the value of art, of what art is, is inextricably tied to one’s experience of perception, which is crucial to extracting meaning from a picture,” concludes Frank.

Art can connect you to your higher power or self, for lack of a better description. And that these objects of our passion serve as the yardstick by which a civilization is judged. Conscious effort to keep art central to life serves an essential role of broadening one’s viewpoint.