statement
Resonance | Beauty is a kind of mystery, which is why it cannot be grasped adequately through the intellect. - Soetsu Yanagi in The Unknown Craftsman
Process/Themes | Intrigued by the interplay of the conscious and subconscious mind in all of life, I visually seek to explore inner territories where memories of past experiences and the reconstruction of those memories converge.
Memory is inherently unreliable, yet it naturally guides our existence. Memories are informative and helpful, yet they can also become crippling handicaps when the fear of repetition becomes their only value to the presently lived life. What do we do with our memories? Do we run from them, suppress them, or embrace them? These are the general questions I explore when beginning and through duration of the work.
Narratives (my own and others) are central to each piece. Whether the process begins with an internal narrative/memory I am exploring, recreating, and connecting to universally, or if it begins with a narrative outside of myself for which I find resonance or dissonance; there is an ebb and flow between what is seen and what is hidden—remembered and forgotten. My responsibility as the artist is to live in the middle of this and bring representation to the beauty, struggle, and uncertainty that lay within the memories, the narratives, and within the process of reconstruction of itself. Within the process, I am as much listener as initiator and I desire to work with the materials and my memories as they emerge, rather than fight against them. (Though initial fighting always leaves room for magnanimous surrender).
Significance beyond my initial intentions grows during this time of creation. Diverse meanings come to play with one another and as others view the work, it never relinquishes static. Although bodies of work and individual pieces originate with a specific theme or question, my hope is to open space for viewers to engage the pieces with their particular eyes and peculiar stories, where meaning infinitely unfolds.
jlg. 10/2009