Artist Statement 2020
Flowers have been a favored topic of mine for decades. Of late I have focused on those that attract bees and butterflies. It is a plant's capacity to nurture that benefits these insects. But it's not just nectar that plants provide, as the setting they present is a universe unto itself and depicts the cosmos found in the flower kingdom.
For me, the plant domain is profoundly compelling, and I inject myself into the earth to find it. My work conveys attributes found in the environment bees inhabit, captures the delicacy and nuance seen by insects, and provides a portrait of their universe.
If, while surveying images of nectar blossoms, I allow a galactic perspective of the floral domain to infiltrate my thinking, my mind more readily accepts and embraces a global perspective.
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Implied in this is a simple truth – that nature provides me with nourishment not usually found emanating from human activity. It simply may be that some forms of empathy have become misshapen, ill-defined, or toxic. I have come to believe that our current conditions have made empathy a threatened species.
As I lose confidence in nature as a source capable of providing diverse forms of sustenance, I am instead cultivating the development of an unimaginable future. I now consider that the original source for empathy was not human beings after all but was rooted in nature, emerging from the confidence the natural world would continuously provide diverse forms of support and nurturing.
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I feel the tensions of the day and choose to illustrate an alternative view while tilling my imagination. The strain these tensions exert on my imagine is deeply troubling. I am too old to imagine a different future, but I am old enough to feel these tensions and have found I am able to overwhelm them when immersed in a floral galaxy.
This immersion acts like compost, enabling me to maintain the purity of my visual kingdom.
Flowers have been a favored topic of mine for decades. Of late I have focused on those that attract bees and butterflies. It is a plant's capacity to nurture that benefits these insects. But it's not just nectar that plants provide, as the setting they present is a universe unto itself and depicts the cosmos found in the flower kingdom.
For me, the plant domain is profoundly compelling, and I inject myself into the earth to find it. My work conveys attributes found in the environment bees inhabit, captures the delicacy and nuance seen by insects, and provides a portrait of their universe.
If, while surveying images of nectar blossoms, I allow a galactic perspective of the floral domain to infiltrate my thinking, my mind more readily accepts and embraces a global perspective.
___
Implied in this is a simple truth – that nature provides me with nourishment not usually found emanating from human activity. It simply may be that some forms of empathy have become misshapen, ill-defined, or toxic. I have come to believe that our current conditions have made empathy a threatened species.
As I lose confidence in nature as a source capable of providing diverse forms of sustenance, I am instead cultivating the development of an unimaginable future. I now consider that the original source for empathy was not human beings after all but was rooted in nature, emerging from the confidence the natural world would continuously provide diverse forms of support and nurturing.
___
I feel the tensions of the day and choose to illustrate an alternative view while tilling my imagination. The strain these tensions exert on my imagine is deeply troubling. I am too old to imagine a different future, but I am old enough to feel these tensions and have found I am able to overwhelm them when immersed in a floral galaxy.
This immersion acts like compost, enabling me to maintain the purity of my visual kingdom.