Parallel Dreams
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The series “Parallel Dreams” began at the height of the Pandemic. By that time the new dynamic of “isolation” was fully operational. We all shared the depths of a profound sense of caution and a visceral fear of the unknown. “Alone time,” or extremely minimal “pod” units of family and/or friends was the new directive of everyday life, as we were left with ourselves to navigate unfamiliar and unsettling terrain.
My paintings have continually hovered between a mode of gestural abstraction and pictorial representation. These recent canvasses all began in a similar manner. Images were marked in, then wiped out, and painted over and over to provide rather tumultuous surfaces of diffused images, never finding their final definition. These primal gestures and dislocations soon became the chaotic foundations of the picture plane within each canvas. The next consideration was how to find figurative images that would become poetic “stand ins” for the deep mode of isolation we were all experiencing. The notion of simple silhouettes articulated such a frozen moment, abruptly juxtaposed with a sea of chaotic gestures covering the painted surface. Utilizing images of friends, family and even myself seemed to be the best way to convey the very particular nature of this forced isolation. While the Pandemic was steeped in extreme chaos, it also emanated useful and maybe even inspirational introspection. This personal focus allowed everyone to examine, and in many cases, find, unique elements of our own relationship with our inner selves. Ornamentation was the final aspect that helped generate the poetic dynamic of this series of paintings. Within the isolation of the figure’s, ornamental structures were introduced. The articulation of how they are painted fully demonstrate the jewel like quality of “inner” reflection, virtually as a metaphor for personal enlightenment. As the Pandemic began to recede, and easy testing and vaccinations entered the mainstream, much overdue longing for travel and communal interactions commenced in earnest. The ornamental components within the silhouetted figures of “Parallel Dreams” also yearned to break free for broader vistas. This prompted me to consider the notion of landscape as a catalyst for the representational escape from our internal isolation. Seemingly endless, magical horizons presented a way to celebrate and express the lessons we had learned and the new introspections we had acquired. The ornamental elements broke free and exuded an almost fluorescent like identity as they mingled without restraint through Baroque landscapes, rich in brilliant light and shadow, full with newly found purpose. While revealing a host of incongruities and disclosures concerning the Pandemic, the series quickly moved beyond that focal point to attain voluminous universal themes in the parallel nature of our daily lives. My hope and intentions are to allow these distinct contradictions to navigate “Parallel” notions between respective struggles, within chaos, amidst universal “Dreams” of personal enlightenment.
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