Paintings by Michael Hermesh

Available at the White Rock Gallery

Available at the Petley Jones Gallery

Available at the Avenue Gallery

Available at the Lloyd Gallery

Artist Statements

Sometimes We Reach for Who We are

Sometimes We Reach for Who We Are

My suspicion is that who we are and what we ultimately desire may be precisely the same thing. And/or The opposite situation may also be true.

In reality, the turbidity of life is what we pay attention to.

We live in our shadows.

Michael Hermesh

Machinery for the Detection of Free Will

Machinery for the Detection of Free Will – There There There

Certainty is the playground of fools. Drive and energy might not be an exercise of free will. The reactions to fears and desires might not be an exercise of free will. Gregarious flamboyancy may not be an exercise of free will.

In the picture, there is a bird of no consequential weight being the counterweight to the physical presence. So, Spirit is the equal weight on the teeter-totter. The teeter-totter defines the parameters of action.

What is free will may be undefinable.

In the picture, there is a bird of no consequential weight being the counterweight to the physical presence. So, Spirit is the equal weight on the teeter-totter. The teeter-totter defines the parameters of action.

Michael Hermesh

A Life Fraught with Meaning

A Life Fraught With Meaning, Acrylic on Panel, 11 x 8.5 inches, by Michael Hermesh
A Life Fraught With Meaning

As we travel through our lives, we would be lucky to make up our own minds as to what is meaningful, authentic, valuable, or real.

By and large, we are handed the dreams of others.

There is no such thing as absolute meaning.

Meaning and value are something we ourselves are responsible for, and that does not diminish their worth.

Michael Hermesh

Life is But a Dream

Life is But a Dream (Yippie Yi Yo Ki Yay), Acrylic on Panel, 8.5 x 11 inches, by Michael Hermesh
Life is But a Dream (Yippie Yi Yo Ki Yay)

The wonder that is life is there because we dream it. A dream is a story that makes us who we are. A story is not a collection of facts.

Michael Hermesh

Waiting for the Flood

Waiting for the Flood, Acrylic on Panel, 11 x 8.5 inches, by Michael Hermesh
Waiting for the Flood

The frayed angel looks out for the interests of his world. An ark awaits near the horizon should that become necessary.

Penguins act out their roles in a tragedy they did not author. Spirit waits patiently perched on a wing ready to act out a deeper purpose. A purpose that will remain no matter how much of a shamble the world is.

Michael Hermesh

The Theory and Practice of Free Will

The Theory and Practice of Free Will

A not quite logical exploration of free will and its limitations. To be alive and creative does not necessarily mean acting in a novel or flamboyant manner. The progress through life has its hazards.

You float down the river, and your choices are you float down the river.

Michael Hermesh

The Comet Enthusiast

The Comet Enthusiast (home and how to get there), Acrylic on Panel, 11 x 8.5 inches, by Michael Hermesh
The Comet Enthusiast (home and how to get there)

Our understanding of how the world functions and what is true is always rational. This is based on evidence and reliant on the truth of common sense.

This is what we would like to believe.

The reality is that we rely on authority, group agreement, and unexamined assumptions. We rarely, if ever, understand anything to the granular texture of basic principles.

That being said, it does not diminish the wonder of the mysterious and misunderstood.

Michael Hermesh

Our Spirits Soared

Our Spirits Soared, Acrylic on Panel, 8.5 x 11 inches, by Michael Hermesh
Our Spirits Soared

Spirit, desire, and identity all have their foes in this world. Gravity binds us to the ground, reality denies desire, and identity is bartered away in day to day transactions. This is what living is.

Michael Hermesh