Artwork

A Note from the Artist

I am a big picture kind of person. In the big picture are those things that we often overlook because they are assumptions we live with. For example, the assumption that gravity will hold us down or for some that there is a power greater than ourselves. These assumptions affect us without our effort. My work focuses on these intangible ideas. I take ideas from the things that I study- philosophy/psychology mostly in the area of religion, spirituality or symbolism and science including physics and the universe. In my worldview, everything is very intertwined and I hope to explore these intersections when creating a work of art. These ideas come from my eclectic spiritual beliefs, things that I study, or maybe something that was said to me. These concepts are rarely something that can be seen, touched, tasted, felt, or heard. They come from the realm of the unknown or little known. How does something measurable like an electromagnetic wave affect our spiritual perceptions of the world? For example, eastern ideas about chi and chakras, or energy. I take these ideas and think about what their physical manifestations would be. If it were energy, what color would it be? What direction would it flow? If it is what goes on inside the private minds of people, what do their thoughts look like? What color are they? How would any of these manifestations behave? What shape are these shapeless things?

I take all these questions and the possible answers and work with them, trying to bring these inanimate thoughts and ideas, these intangible bits into our realm. I take what I think they would look like, how they would act, how they would flow and what color they would be, then try to bring life and tangibility to them. I see everything as connected and am reluctant to exclude any possible understanding by allowing preconceived ideas about images to get in the way.

I typically work on stretched canvas with acrylic paint, however I do not feel that because it is a “painting” it needs to be flat. To better express the intangible ideas that I work with, I allow the idea to dictate the shape and size of the canvas. I also try to create an interaction between viewer and artwork by making pieces that hang from the ceiling or protrude into their space in other ways. These naturally demand more attention, therefore offering the viewer a more interactive experience.

I hope to bring tangibility to these ethereal thoughts, moving them to the forefront of other people’s minds. When people see these pieces, I want them to think about the things that exist beyond their senses. I hope that the piece will have a dialogue with them about what they believe. I feel it is important for people to question what they see, as well as to question their thoughts about the things they cannot see. This is important for me because the world is a place where many things happen beyond our immediate senses and these are the things that really matter. I feel that having an intuitive nature is important in our society where we are just beginning to realize that we can explain some things that societies before us could not. These things that are beyond our senses affect us in ways that we are not aware of. This is the focus of my work, and the reason I continue. I hope to create a space for reflection, to bring these things to light for my audience in hopes that those contemplations open minds and make for a better society.