August 13, to August 27, 2020 – Lloyd Gallery Solo Show
Artist Statement
When I look at the pieces I have collected for this show; it strikes me as a bestiary of human folly.
My intention is not to portray pessimism as an aesthetic. The narratives we all live by are human narratives, imperfect and ultimately quite mad. These stories are what we use to create life.
While we assume we have a purpose and make decisions with the council of Gods or the logic of science, that we have a special insight due to our particular nobility, we are flawed. Our functional narratives come from agreements, habits, misunderstandings and fears as well as rational insight. I am not saying we are all confused madmen; I am saying we are human to a fault.
These images are not icons of agreed upon. They are narratives that find their strength in uncertainty.
“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”
Eugene Lonesco
Acrylic on Panel
25.5 x 11 inches (plus frames)
New Paintings
Acrylic on Panel
33.5 x 36.75 inches
The “garden” is an example of a painting from which I have learned:
a) I realized I was painting the “Garden of Eden.
b) I realized that the Garden of Eden was the moment that hunter-gatherer stopped being the only paradigm and that the skills required to be a hunter-gatherer were all of a sudden sharing the stage with farming. Hence the metaphorical expulsion from the “Garden of Eden.” The woman, far from her nakedness being a sign of weakness, is a sign of strength, as the guiles she uses are her own. The man in the suit represents the strength of conformity and economic reality. The woman’s power is her naked wildness, and the man’s strength is in the briefcase.
In other words, the woman is a metaphor for the “hunter-gatherer,” and the man is a metaphor for the skills required once evicted from the garden.
Acrylic on Panel
37.5 x 47.5 inches
Our interaction with the real world depends more on our own creation of what is there than what can be measured externally. The glue that ultimately holds the world together is narrative. The inner objects we create are what is real. If the physical object were to disappear, the one that would remain is the true one.
The Arrogance of Fealty I
The Arrogance of Fealty II
His Private Ark
The Economists Apprentice
Acrylic on Panel, 8.5 x 11 inches
Artist Statement: We are at a pinnacle, and the effect we can have on the world is truly staggering. We are a force, not to be ignored. We are a force that cannot be escaped from, whether we are players or bystanders. The greater stories that will play themselves out are beyond our control.
