Abstract
My work, both drawing and painting, contains atmospheres that are made dense and then stretched to the breaking point. The space is crippled and crumpled. The space at times mimics the space of this questionable reality. Realities lead to alternate realities. In the end they are all ethereal and solid, whimsical and solemn.
I see no difference between a ditch on the side of the road, the quantity of time in a blink, and that infinitely dimensional and elastic hollow space between life and death. There is the circle of this world, and there is the smeared circle of the “other”. Are my created works simply this reality, or the twigs that hold the soul together?
Commentary about my work is structured around a fictitious story about a garden and the man, Shadrack Landini, who owns and maintains it. The story has fifteen chapters and is used as a vehicle that evokes certain concepts that I subsequently address with text concerning my work. I have included quotes from my journals and relevant artists. The reasons for the story are three-fold.
1) My writing is extremely important to my process and the way I create my visual work. My stories are the literary equivalent to my visual work. I have discovered that the way I compose a story and the way I place forms, lines, and interpret space on a canvas or piece of paper are quite similar. The writing addresses the same issues, but often in a more personal and emotive way.
2) The story encapsulates my belief that art encompasses all the aspects of life, and that life’s influence is integral to my work. It further develops my ongoing belief that the assessment of this life and reality uncovers other realities.
3) The physicality of the garden and the “making” of the garden are analogous to my “hands-on-making” of my work.
The thesis ends with a moderately in-depth analysis of the process, tools, and ideas I am presently employing to complete my paintings and drawings. The method is described, dissected, and examined.