Ted Goodden
The Comforts of Splendor by Troy David Ouellette
During my studio visit with Ted Goodden we talked, at length, about the significance of
stained glass historically, symbolically and in terms of its materiality. For both Ted and I
the combinations of light and colour have an affective quality. It is a material that
transmutes light as it passes through the medium. It’s a material that has morphed
through processes of heat with combinations of chemicals and pigments shaped into
patterns and forms by the hard work and will of the Artist. It invokes sheer wonder at the
quality of changing light conditions outside or inside affecting the viewer in different
ways and at different times. As with any threshold between inside and outside it changes
- and is subject to change even as our interpretation and judgments about what we see are
continually revised after consecutive readings. Goodden originally trained as a
psychologist and I can’t help wondering if there is a connection between the insights he
has gained through this discipline and his attention to subject matter and material matter.
The thing that most surprised me was Goodden’s range of materials and subject matter.
In one of the works, at the Art Exchange, a depicted modern window opens onto a
backyard scene anchored within the historical tradition of stained glass practice. As a
work that is somewhat ironic, it begs questions regarding craft. How is the Artist now
positioned within a world of mass production? What is the role of the Artist or Artisan?
How is skilling important to our communities? These are major questions in an age of
globalization. In another work Goodden uses a tempered two-way mirror as a threshold to
a tomb harkening back to the use of stained glass as a marker of spiritual import. Anyone
who has entered a Medieval cathedral knows what I’m talking about when the aura of
technical virtuosity in the craft is met with the comfort of splendor that the coloured glass
refracts onto the stonework or alter pieces. It’s as if the originator of the work
acknowledge those who would come after in the moment of its creation. In this work the
subject matter references the divide between the corporeal and the intangibility of the
beyond. As a momento mori an Angel is seen holding its hand just above the entrance as
if to suggest that life and death involve passage. As Ted remarks “we see ourselves in the
mirror, but also see the outside, and this changes as the light value morphs from the
phenomenon of weather.” It is like the liquid quality of water where we see through and
see a reflection. He goes on to suggest that, “It is also about perception at one moment
our gazed is fixed in the reflection or it refocuses on that which is beyond the pane of
glass”. Many of his works also reflect photography through the use of decorative
perforated and scalloped boarders in a clever nod to art glass tradition and as if to suggest
a relationship to the negative/photograph and persistence of vision. The later being of
particular interest when it comes to the still as it advances in the illusion of movement
through the memory of the previous frame.
This notion of the fleeting moment where our perception of reality is interrupted
by what we think we see is something that has equal resonance in the notion of the
floating world for which the exhibition is titled. By citing this Goodden inserts himself
within the Japaneese tradition of ukiyo-e. Ukiyo-e is also associated with prints by artists
like Hokasai, Utamaro and Sharaku sometimes printed as advertisements for the world of
everyday life and urban pleasure. Also associated with ukiyo-e is the traditional Japanese
love of nature something Goodden shares. You can tell this from the garden he keeps and
the themes he chooses to depict: bees, green spaces, rivers and even backyard gardens.
There are also the quite urban spaces devoid of people as if Goodden was inviting the
viewer to occupy the place depicted. The Blackfriars bridge series is case in point. Our
discussion about the remaining one in his studio issued forth as series of conversations
that revealed the real power of art within a discussion culture – as Goodden revealed the
stories that captivated him through the encounters with people who shared anecdotes and
experiences of the bridge. Here art reinforces the importance and connection of the built
environment with community it serves. You see this again in other works that have an
affinity to the other artists who have lived and worked in London namely Greg Curnoe,
and John Boyle whose use of text complements and sometimes contradicts the image. In
terms of Ted’s practice this is especially evident in the works he was commissioned to do
at the Landon Library in Wortley Village, which can be seen today.
I must admit, as a fellow artist, I felt rather saddened at the fact that Goodden was
leaving London after 40 years with what is likely to be his last large show of work in
London at the Art Exchange. In my short visit Ted was quite well-read and articulate
about his work. He has a deep connection to London through his practice and those who
he has come to know over the years. For my part I there is always a sense of loss when an
artist with such a long history leaves the community.
After just visiting the Judson stained glass studio down in Los Angeles one week
prior to my visit, I realized that Goodden had a connection to Judson who left London
more than a century earlier to set up his practice in Pasadena California. As a
contemporary to Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright the studio is a well-known part of the
community and economy to this very day. The difference between the two men (if I can
make such a generalization) is that, through reading the archives, Judson gave me the
impression of someone who was searching for ideal places and pastoral landscapes to
settle and practice. In contrast Goodden is moving to a place with familial connections
after a long accomplish practice to continue his artistic investigations and research on
Hornby Island, in British Columbia. As his practice tappers off here in London he is in a
period of reflection preparing for his new westward journey and I wish him luck.