Parallels

Artist’s hold an important place in society, in that they are a parallel reflection of what’s going on in a culture.  They open up dialogs that engage members of a society to reflect, question and possibly influence old views.  In my own work I see similar parallels where I examine the human experience and nature.  In other pieces I create correlations between experiences and creating visual representations of them.  To some art is unimportant and unnecessary, to me it is the eye in the storm that creates clarity and balance.

To view art in Toronto is a wonderfully effortless task that I thrive for.  I have enjoyed the last year visiting many small galleries and having the pleasure to meet the artist’s that have created the work.  It is the experience of meeting an artist and understanding their intention that allows me to appreciate their work that much more.  Many times I have looked at a work of art and dismissed it, unsure of what the artist intention was and for me it has been difficult to decipher what they are trying to say. For my own work I hope to continuously communicate my intention for my viewers.  At the same time I want to leave enough room to create an open door to interpretation so that they to can connect to the work in their own way.

The parallels in my own work are creating surreal abstract images of my own experiences.  In my recent series “Outer Communication”, I created images that reflected my experiences while meditating with my eyes closed. Each piece represents different times that I saw purple orbs with white glows around them.  Having never experienced this before I was blown away and wanted to paint it immediately. These types of works can be interpreted in many ways as they are abstract and have simple compositions.  Another intention for this series was to focus on composition and playing with expanding my technique.  Putting the two together I hope to create work that is both visually pleasing and yet has a deeper meaning behind it that my audience can connect with.

The other common parallel that I enjoy creating is taking natural occurrences like snow and finding ways to compare it to the human experience.  Right now I am doing research on different types of snow and snowflakes for inspiration.  I am also playing with the ideas of commonalities between cultures through the use of language and also look at how differences in the landscape can evoke different experiences for individuals.  The snow is a bridge for the two concepts as I will use the terms and visuals to represent these ideas.  As the series begins the ideas and visual images take a life of there own and it will evolve and changes naturally.  I am excited to see where this series takes me and I will be documenting the process through video and posting them in the future.

Art can bee seen as redundant but it is through expression, dialog and perspective which we gain from art that I believe can open our minds to new ideas.  To me an artist is an educator that can change people’s perspective on a concept or experience.  The parallel between how a culture view’s an artist is a true reflection of the culture as a whole.  In my eyes if the world we know ended, it would be the artists creating a new one.