notes on painting

I am interested in the process of “making sense” of an experience. I use painting as an activity and forum to examine how we can be active, accepting, and thoughtful in an experience. For example, how do we understand a bright yellow bleed on raw canvas with a dark thin mark slicing through it? What do we make of it and how might this perception change tomorrow or even with the next glance?

 

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Painting is a site for non-verbal experience. Painting is like a zen koan—a riddle for contemplation, not solving—that exists in material form.

 

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I am not interested in pictures. There are too many representations in our society. I am interested in beings. Paintings are a way to be continuously suspended in a state of not-knowing and discovery. Each time I encounter a painting, it baffles me just a bit. Paintngs are an ontological question, not a site for answers. This uncertainty is exciting. I attempt to cultivate uncertainty in each painting so as to keep the paintings and my reaction to them just slightly out of reach. My response to this is to be engaged in each moment and trust my gut sensory reactions.

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Art is an exchange of ideas. Some ideas may be expressed with words, some with color, some with texture, etc. Ideas can also be experiences, not just messages. When art has the power to be something—not just be about something—it can change the way we see/feel/think/view the rest of the world.