In my art I am concerned with the drawing of parallels between natural phenomena and human consciousness in order to converse about the soul of nature and the nature of the soul. The sublime experience of nature defined by the Northern Romantic tradition of painting in the 19th century in America and Europe contextualizes for me my position and suggests that in order to experience the landscape in terms of beautiful, awesome and powerful there must be in the work the presence of the shadow, or a malevolent force that is dangerous, violent and/or horrific. This idea of the sublime in nature is also found in our ideas about religion that we are meant to fear God because the idea of God is awesome to think about and that is humbling. Which is supposed to make us a better society. It is fear and danger that often motivates the transformation of consciousness. It can be said that during the most volatile and tumultuous times in history is when some of the best art is produced. In my paintings I describe the primordial acts of creation existing on the edge of the great abyss. This to me is a fearful and humbling thought and one of the great mysteries that surround mans’ existence in the universe. Through the fear of our precarious position in the universe we are made aware of how special, wonderful, unique and rare life really is. It is this uncomfortable awkward presence of danger and or fear married to beauty and harmony in my work that I use to motivate the viewer out of their comfort zone of ideal ideas of safety and beauty and into an alert edgy awareness that is at times emotional and philosophical.
“Half light at Dusk and Dawn”
Some of my best thinking is accomplished in the early morning hours just before the sun rises or just as the day is ending. These are enchanted hours when the voice of the soul can be easily heard and when the veil between the worlds is thin. This is a time of fantasy and of fear, a time of anxiety and hope, a time that challenges who I think I am. Dusk and dawn are half light times when I feel a deep connection to being alive on the planet. It is a time when I invent my personal mythologies and draw from the interior of my being the inspirations for my art. A time when I draw the parallels between my personal power and the forces at work on the planet. From these wanderings in the interior of my psyche it can be said that I walk the mountain and I am the mountain, I swim the ocean and I am the ocean and I eat from the tree of life and I am the tree of life.
