Pacific
oil on panel W: 12" H: 12" D: 1.5"
Artist Statement:
Like an evaporated mirage,
like a tree of gold in a dream,
like a magic show in the midst of a crowd –
you run blind after what is unreal.
– the Buddha
My paintings are informed by Buddhist emptiness teachings which posit that nothing possesses inherent existence; everything is dependent on its parts, on causes and conditions and on the mind. This concept plays out in my work through the reciprocation between the background and foreground and in the interconnectedness of the work’s elements. Layers, lines and shapes are distinct but not one more important than another. Through the use of cropping and carefully chosen color relationships, the space in my paintings appears simultaneously deep and flat. I allow the paint to be expressionistic in some areas and controlled in others. These seemingly contradictory aspects of the work refer to non-duality. I complete the connection with a visual give and take where opposite forces are interdependent.
My work often raises the question of how it was made and I remain enigmatic in my response. How the work is created, I want to remain a mystery.
