Amiss in the Abyss VI

2015Oil On Canvas48x84 Inches

2015

Oil On Canvas

48x84 Inches

I came to realize that the Venetian Carnivale’ clown, is the artist and as close to a self-portrait as I gotten so far. This is my 6th attempt to describe him, in each painting there has been urgency in bringing him back to life on canvas, always a quest in search of an answer. In each of the six paintings the only element, which remains the same, is the carefree pose. The networks of colors, which comprise his suit, are as varied as, the infinite colors in a child’s crayon box. The cap and collar always of a different design too. This collar is inspired by collars painted on the officials of high the courts, by the Dutch master; Rembrandt. The cap is a design I saw on the puppets of Old Town Square in Prague. 
 
 The contrast between finite depiction of the Jester suit and the raw elemental colliding, spiraling gases of sky is the primary aesthetic allure the heart this sixth Jester. My initial vision for the background would include a night sky, a cauldron of super heated alchemist liquid below ,and paint streaming off the artist’s palette, the reckless and carefree fling of red paint traveling outside the picture plane. There is a signature brushstroke, which can be seen in each of the previous five paintings of the Jester ,the thick snake-like stacked curvilinear formation of cobalt violet (as vital to the picture as my signature). 
  The night sky is a subtly layered dark composition of very flat oil scumbled over with equally dark primary Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine blue oil crayon. It is a subtle effect, so subtle they may be missed in a reproduction. They are essential in this area, undulating behind to the circular galaxy of metallic golden ochre. Allowing a  dramatic mood behind in the galaxy. 
 The galaxy itself is a mortal, clumsy, attempt to illustrate heaven, although in another dimension time/space, I have always felt the immediate afterlife to be a spherical place with light at the center (one may in fact be dispatched from there for another tour of life; reincarnation). Billions of tiny flecks of gold float in a ¼ inch thick epoxy medium, which form the arms of the galaxy of heaven. Lighter in color and value than the cosmic darkness behind, it overlays in extreme contrast to the ultra flat background, giving it clarity, despite transparency thus compositional and thematic significance. 
  The fling of paint which brings movement to the painting is also made of the thick epoxy paint. The unique epoxy richness of heavenly galaxy and the artist flung paint should join them in relationship and significance for the viewer. They in fact do blend into one another in the exact middle of the picture. Red blends with Gold, Mother with Son.

 I create a painting with the will to be at once illustrative and narrative yet also abstract. A balanced composition seems essential to accomplish this goal.

  I had lost my mother in December of 2014.We were very close and I spent the final 48 hours of her life along with my sisters and father at her side. With my hand on her forehead-I felt her spirit intensely in those final hours . I came away from her passing determined to visually express the assembly of souls spiraling around the creator of the universe, of which I am certain she is one.

Acrobats

Oil on Canvas60X40 Inches2013

Oil on Canvas

60X40 Inches

2013

Crafting the wall behind the acrobats was not unlike building one with mortar, sand, lime and trowel-all were employed here. As construction progressed I contemplated the couple and felt stronger about their shadow than themselves.    Like the looking glass or last nights dream, a shadow suggests interchangeability of future and past, a glimpse of some one not seen an uncertain movement fleeting out of the corner your eye. Shadow is  phenomenon.A sub-dimension of physical reality,an entry point. It's plasticity could serve the picture in several ways also. I had become precious about the wall, so much so, I spent several weeks enjoying it alone. The advantages of a shadow without its origin in view inevitably grew, the cool, transparent tone of shadow prevented loosing precious square inches of the wall. One could see within and its unobtrusive soft border. Cool and warm values reverse( even a rose appears blue while in shadow), the dancers adumbrate still provides the viewer a human form, albeit without detail.   So I painted the shadow first as if the acrobats existed just out of sight. It was almost the best solution. The picture however, ultimately sought another course. My painting seems to require a firm resolution. One that leaves no doubt what I want you and I to see and feel. Once the performers assumed the stage I fell into rendering anatomical details, facial expression, fingers and toes, a degree of reality commensurate with the wall. The final and ultimately most important pictorial issue was becoming clear; how to make them definitive enough to exist in pictorial space in front of the eye catching wall, not to mention conquer their own shadow.  So a costume was devised. The pigment may not be quiet evident on the screen but the harlequin diamonds are grooved in texture and colored slightly metallic.