Backdraft

"Backdraft" acrylic on canvas, 2013

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

Organized Chaos

“Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.” 
― Mary Shelley

"'Paint only what you see,' his hero Millet had admonished.
'Imagination is a burden to a painter,' Auguste Renoir had told him. 'Painters are craftsmen, not storytellers. Paint what you see.'
Ah, but what they hadn't said, hadn't warned him about, was how much you could see."
                                                          –Christopher Moore, Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art

 

Enso

This series of paintings is based on a class workshop where each student was asked to teach something to the class. I chose kung fu. I chose to translate this through enso paintings because of the many shared philosophies between the two practices. Both are a Buddhist tradition (Shaolin Five Animal Kung Fu) and can be linked in terms of both mindset and movement.

These works are not true enso paintings in the strictest sense but were heavily inspired by the philosophy behind it. Enso in Zen Buddhist painting is a moment where the mind is free to let the body and spirit create. It is not an art form practised by professional artists but rather a form of meditation, letting the spirit be present in the work. It is believed that the true character and spiritual realization of the painter is demonstrated through the mark making. 

Since this series was based on my kung fu workshop, I strove for the evidence of explosive movement coupled with dedication to the stroke. I also wanted to draw the connection between myself and my art, creating a more personal aspect to it. To me, they symbolize the inherent perfection of imperfection, the striving to improve but also the humility to accept things as the way they are meant to be.

“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.” 

― Albert Einstein          

Fan

“It is the soul that sees; the outward eyes
Present the object, but the Mind descries.
We see nothing till we truly understand it.”
― John Constable

Depths

“It is there if you just close your eyes and breathe softly through your nose; you will hear the whispered message, for all landscapes ask the same question in the same whisper. 'I am watching you -- are you watching yourself in me?' Most travelers hurry too much...the great thing is to try and travel with the eyes of the spirit wide open, and not to much factual information. To tune in, without reverence, idly -- but with real inward attention. It is to be had for the feeling...you can extract the essence of a place once you know how. If you just get as still as a needle, you'll be there.” 

― Lawrence Durrell, Spirit Of Place: Letters And Essays On Travel