June
has seen an explosion of new work - vibrant, vital new work.
Continuing to challenge my traditional ways of representation,
the new work seeks the ground of immediacy - energetic,
spontaneous, sensuously layered. My choice is to bypass
finesse and fine craftsmanship, to get to a more primal
impact, subverting the "precious object" idea
of art. Following a method of construction / de-construction
/ reconstruction, I am finding intricate detail and texture
amidst raw brutishness.
The new paintings are
finding success in viewer involvement. Bordering on Mandala
type experience, the paintings have a way of of inspiring
contemplative imagination at a visceral level. This is exactly
what I had hoped for.
One thing I have been
unhappy about with the Freedom ART Project ideas is contrivance.
The work has too much intention. And given the nature of
the work, interpreting an essence of each of the Canonized
Biblical books, it is hard not to be premeditated. I want
the work to be powerful on a visceral level - a sub-cognitive
stream.
Every format for every
book is the same - it is unchanging - acknowledgement of
God's unchanging character. All of the 66 paintings carry
the same symbolic message, as each book testifies of Christ
- as reveled in the study of Scripture. As beautiful as
the Freedom ART Project paintings are in their early planning
stage - they are certainly "planned" and so, by
my definition, , contrived. For the final artworks to be
balanced will require a powerful abstracted handling of
the interpretive content within the crosses for each painting
of each book - not limited to style or usage of any particular
medium.
The new paintings have a vitality which is subtle and not
seen at first. But spend time with them in person
- and they creep into one's being, whispering their
life pulse. To view my older work after being with
the newer work, reveals the older work as static.
So how is it that Life
is missing in an image that is complete in the sense of
finished, polished, perhaps, finessed to death? To complete
the image this way is to kill it. Kill it of life that the
viewer can experience between them and the art. These paintings
offer relationship - timeless interaction outside of recognition,
sentiment, nostalgia, propaganda, didactics, or pedantries.
These new works are bold and engaging, and they are the
beginning of a direction.
