Christopher Noxon: Rule Number Four

As a late-blooming, self-taught maker of art, I take instruction and inspiration wherever I can find it — art fairs, gallery crawls, Instagram feeds, artist biographies, long talks with friends who make things.

One of my favorite teachers is Sister Corita Kent, the pop-art nun whose vibrant serigraphs from the ’60s and ’70s remain marvels of color, design, activism, and joy.

In her classroom at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, she posted a set of rules for her students. I keep a copy of those rules pinned to my own studio wall.

They’re all brilliant, but the one I return to most is Rule Number Four: “Consider everything an experiment.”

Hallelujah, Sister.

The beauty of Rule Number Four is that it takes the pressure off. When everything's an experiment, you’re free to try anything — to make mistakes and see what happens. When a piece doesn’t turn out the way you hoped, that’s fine. You’ve learned something. 

As I scramble to get ready for this weekend’s big Ojai Studio Artists Open Studio — I’ll be open Saturday through Monday, alongside Rebecca Odes — I’ve been deep in experimentation mode. This week alone I’ve been testing sandpaper and primer for an outdoor sculpture made entirely of PA speakers, and playing with oil on linen in preparation for a new series of rotating paintings.

The more I work, the more possibilities appear — and the more projects I want to start. I admire artists who find one thing and stick to it, but I just can’t seem to settle down. There are too many materials, too many forms, too many ways of making to explore.

So I’m following Rule Number Four. I’m trying everything.

Come by the studio this weekend for a look at all the experiments.