How to interpret art when you don’t know where to start

When you first approach an artwork “don’t rush it”, says Dr Katy Bond, an art history lecturer who specialises in early modern European history and visual culture in the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts and Education.

“I’m a big fan of ‘slow looking’. Don't rush the process, see what you notice, and how the painting provokes a response.”

She says it’s a misconception that someone has to have specialist knowledge to appreciate art or that it’s somehow ‘elitist’ and therefore intimidating.

“It doesn't have to be, of course. It's accessible and open for everyone.”

And she says while it’s helpful to understand the artist’s biography, because it adds a new layer of interpretative meaning to your understanding, you can get so much out of an artwork just by using your own powers of observation. 

Katy and Joelle looked at a notable Don Binney work titled Arts-Commerce Kākā (1984 acrylic on board, 2010 x 1030mm) in the University’s Arts One building on Symonds Street. The work is part of the University’s extensive art collection and a particular favourite of Katy’s.

“Don Binney was trained at Elam the School of Fine Arts, here at Waipapa Taumata Rau. He was also a teacher here,” she says.

“This work represents his love of birds. He was a big bird watcher, and this hobby really shaped his art. In particular, we see a kākā (native parrot) soaring over Aotea or Great Barrier Island, an expanse of blue sky and rolling fields; everything quite reduced and simplified.”

What she really loves about the work, she says, is how much it shows Binney’s “deep respect” for nature.

“He really was an advocate for protecting the environment. For him, when he was watching birds through his binoculars, he got a greater sense of the landscape itself and that opened up new vantage points and ways of conceptualising it for him.”

So someone standing in front of a work like Binney’s could start by looking closely at colour, line, light and composition and “really focusing on details and clues that might give you a sense of what the artist is really trying to say,” says Katy.

She says it’s also important to trust your gut response.

“There are no wrong answers, so whatever comes to you as a feeling and emotion, what it’s stirring in you, go with that.”

Building confidence with interpreting art really does comes down to the habit of looking closely, says Katy.

“It takes maybe ten minutes to stand in front of a painting or an artwork and really take it all in. What does your eye start to notice when you slow down? What do you observe in terms of colour, light or shadow? Really trust that instinct and you'll start to notice all sorts of new things you didn't see the day before.”