Statement
My current period of work is abstract. This art can be considered to be a form of lyrical abstraction.
This art is about direct expression. Of course, as art, it utilizes a cultural language, so it is useful for the viewer to become aware of the exponents of this language to appreciate its nuances.
Primarily, I seek a direct mirroring of the experience of the human psyche. We have a head, body mass, proprioception, awareness of ourselves in outer and inner spaces, etc. This is a vertical expression with horizontally positioned, centered, mobile and fixed regions, as well as locales radiating outwards, that we feel intuitively. The balance of these sensations modulate moment by moment. The lyrical abstractionist seeks to create art in formats that reflect these sensations. The sensations stimulate action during the painting event, as well as respond to the processes of creating, in turn evoking further expression. This all happens fairly quickly. If this process is successful, due to similarities in our makeup, the art has the potential to evoke similar states in the viewer.
The fall from grace of this form of art is illustration, wherein we simulate the appearance of a feeling without authentically living it.
All this talk of sensation aside, the successful art is very impersonal, as we move aside the particularities of specific views, and seek the root or ground of being itself, expressed in movements such as a burst, a thrust, something falling; in other words, any natural form of nature, emotion, shape, or mood. This is my subject, but it is more than a subject, it is both the action of generating the art, and the outcome.
The oils and enamels on paper express my roots in Action Painting, studying with second-generation Abstract Expressionists in New York. This is my root inspiration in art.
The current set of work are studies for paintings prepared digitally. Many of the pieces are composites of photographs of my paintings or drawings, and of myself or objects, along with brushwork. The intent here is not to abandon painting, but to push myself outside my habitual handling of the medium. This process was initiated during a period where inclement weather and conditions in the studio required I move ahead on my concepts with whatever tool I could find. I made several prints from these studies. I am looking forward to using what I learned -- to make paintings based on these explorations.
I work on occasion in deep bursts, and also on a regular basis. In both process and result, I look for internal movement, not engaging the discursive mind. I want the work to have a bodily impact like music, not something for the viewer to process or unravel intellectually. I might plan to varying degrees, but the implementation itself is swift, and I am carried along, as if on wings. Painting requires the artist to be very daring, to the degree that, not doing so, is utter failure. Each work has to give up something more -- it is a process of giving, again and again. I am a parent of an adult with severe Autism. Love, as it turns out, is giving over and over, without lack of inspiration and joy.
Given a prolonged period of work, I would like to explore an attempt to reflect to the viewer in a painting what is felt internally (proprioception, balance, etc.) somewhat like a mirror. This is one of the ways I envision extending work along the lines started by Rothko, and also why I hope to work larger, to include peripheral vision in the "mirroring."
I prefer to work in a series, but recently, I am consumed by discoveries, so that I feel happy to stray and produce singular work. However I feel a strong need to synthesis and accomplish a body of work, so that has to be tempered without stifling any useful discoveries.
When my art doesn't go well, I stop attacking the problem at the level I am perceiving the problem. I turn it upside down, pour solvent over it, cover up what I thought was the "best part" etc. Things need to be radically moved around. Often as a matter of exigency I drop a piece for the moment. I keep many pieces going at the same time. When I return, the answer is often obvious. It is more productive than thrashing at a problem. When everything in me and before me starts to disappear, then the painting is going well.