Cokeley with his pups Winnie and Ringo and one of his works behind him.
PHOTOGRAPHY BYANTHONY-MASTERSON
Many writers are not keen to read their own stories. Plenty of actors would rather not watch clips from their movies, let alone the full film. Artists, however, seem not only at ease in the presence of their own work, but contended by it, prompting them to design thoughtful placements for select pieces within their homes.
Abstract expressionist painter William Cokeley is among these artists who subscribe to the notion: To live is to live with one’s own art.
“Just about every artist I know, and all of my friends who are artists, have their work in their home,” he says. “Of course, a lot of them do it as a means of storage!” Closets and garages could serve the same function. Yet for Cokeley, a real-life setting becomes an extension of the studio. Examining a canvas in the context of a home is a pathway toward new work.
“It’s hard to progress in our art without constantly looking at it. Even in the studio, I spend more time looking than painting,” he says. “When I get to the point of completion, the next step is to live with it. I look for parts of the painting I might be able to recreate later and I critique the artwork in a home environment, where ideally it will end up.”
Cokeley says he usually keeps one work from each series. Most in his home are untitled. Once finished, he opted hold onto them. “They are the pieces that are too personal to sell,” he notes. “I also have paintings from the teachers I’ve studied with,” including an early mentor, the mother of a childhood friend, who influenced him with her abstract expressionist work when he was growing up in Amsterdam.
Beyond hanging the work as part of his process, there is a secondary, more emotional motivator. “I like living with my art. It feels like home walking in and seeing it. It’s like having your pets there. They are comforting,” he says. And like pets, they move around until they find their favorite spot.
