Art. Life. Reality. What is real? A sculptor once said to me, “Sculpture is real, painting isn’t; it’s not multi-dimensional.” I made no comment. I paint, take photographs, occasionally write a short story or poem, and sculpt and in all of these endeavors, I experience many dimensions of reality.
Our perceptions and reactions or lack of them to life is what I believe is real. Because of my way of thinking, I choose not to paint or sculpt representations of just physical things: trees, water, man made objects or a mother and child. Rather, in my creations I choose to tackle the tasks of capturing their essence, exploring my feelings about them, and letting their forms inspire my palette and mark making. Then, I “hush” my mind and allow my notions of life and its challenges, idiosyncrasies, transitions and the like to channel through my hands. I let the paint find its way onto my canvass and forms emerge intuitively. Some of the thoughts that I have released and turned into art have included the rejuvenating and invigorating feeling of the glow of verdant new growth, on a spring pine in the early morning sun light; the power of water personified by a rush of blue paint gushing through a rocky-like cleft; and the exhilaration of freedom, the feeling of being released.
I’m also interested in transitions and the feelings that lay between polar emotions or situations. For instance, what does it feel like to be in between peace and war? Or what divides love and hate when these powerful states of mind can feel so similar? I’m at the very beginning of this exploration and am very excited by it; daily ideas for new ways to explore transitions swirl around in a halo above my consciousness waiting to be snatched, examined and turned into a piece of art.
As an artist, an observer of life, and communicator, I want to mobilize viewers’ minds with my work – enable them to have a dynamic experience – an experience that is rich and multi-faceted. Sometimes the experience may evoke personal memories, activate a sense of social consciousness or simply give the viewer a good feeling. Whatever the viewers’ experience, it will be their reality.