Here are the indoor wall paintings I completed between February to December 2018. This first piece, Binding Light III, is part of a conceptual series of paintings that I have been making related to my curiosity about the nature of reality evolving out of my Buddhist practices. The random angled geometric shapes that have been a long time part of my art have always represented individuals to me. What I am particularly interested in is how individuals are "inseparably interconnected" to one another. The illusion of reality verses what is really going on. Consequently, although the painting is abstract on one level, my intent is not abstract at all.
Binding Light III
24" x 40.5"
mixed media on board
2018
My zigzag work is less conceptual and more about playing with color, experimenting with their interaction, and trying to generate some kind of visual energy. As with much of my work, I am more interested in selecting color combinations that create visual questions more than to have something that is aesthetically pleasing. The title of this one, Orange and Philinga, is a reference to a tombstone I came across while wondering around an old graveyard in Morrisville, Vermont for Orange and Philinga Cleaveland. Orange died in 1889 at 88 and Philinga died in 1870 at 66. I know nothing about them other than what is on the tombstone but with such names I assume they must have been wonderful people.
Orange and Philinga
31" x 25"
mixed media on board
2018
Here is the tombstone the painting is named after.
The underpainting for Orange and Philinga and Breathless was made specifically to be painted on top of, whereas the underpainting for Redemption was made on top of an old piece.
Breathless
36" x 18.5"
mixed media on board
2018
Of all the zigzag paintings in this batch, Redemption (below) is the only one in which I painted over an older piece. With the others I created the underpainting with the intent of painting zigzags on top. I first started working on this piece in 2010, and brought it out again in 2017 before finishing it this year.
Redemption
18.5" x 24"
mixed media on board
2010-2018
Intuitive Induction
28.5" x 31.5" x 1.5"
mixed media on board
2018
Kale Summer
20" x 18"
mixed media on board
2018
Would That (below) is available through Cross MacKenzie Gallery in Washington, DC.
Would That
46" x 35"
mixed media on board
2018
That Which
29" x 48"
mixed media on board
2018
When I made Innocent Insolence I was interested in the wedge shapes created by the zigs and the zags so I decided to paint each of them individually. When I was done I realized I still needed something to hold it together, and to give the shapes context, so I painted the zigzags on top after removing the tape. This painting, as well as Orange and Philinga, is available through Helen Day Arts Center until December 29, 2018.
Innocent Insolence
46" x 41.5"
mixed media on board
2018
Here is a closeup of the piece.
Innocent Insolence (close-up)
Future Perfect started as a practice board, a place to experiment with ideas before working on an actual piece. But has the ideas were layered on top of one another I eventually felt that it was interesting in its own right, so I decided to finish it. I found the result interesting and it served as inspiration for the piece that followed, Present Perfect.
Future Perfect
23.5" x 31"
mixed media on board
2016-2018
Present Perfect is a combination of the piece above, Future Perfect, and the first piece on this post, Binding Light III. Although, with this iteration, I'm thinking maybe that binding light touches all around the beings rather than just at the points between them. I don't know.
Present Perfect
23.5" x 30"
spray paint, acrylic paint, and shellac on board
2018
With this last piece of 2018, Jatonisti, I felt that it needed another layer of something when I was done and, more out of frustration than anything else, I decided to doodle on top of it.
Jatonisti
23.5" x 25"
spray paint, acrylic paint, and shellac on board
2018
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