Emergence was the first intentional series I created after I returned to making art following a 21 year break. The series began as a way to process an experience I had in the summer of 2016 at Big Bend National Park, when I "saw" colored shapes rising out of the rock faces. At the time I did not understand what this experience was, as the shapes were not physically there (obviously) but also did not seem to come from my imagination. Rather, they felt "inserted" (I now recognize this as clairvoyance). The series came about intuitively and plays out in a sequence. At first the shapes are embedded in a disjointed landscape with competing and chaotic styles. Gradually they lift and sharpen, with tension building at the mid-point, and then gradually transform the landscape and smooth back out, ending with a vortex over a stylized landscape. It was through the creation of this series that I began to view my art-making differently, not as something that I figured out and then executed, but as something that revealed meaning through the process and imagery. This was a period when my clair senses were first elevating to a point where I could no longer ignore them or write them off as coincidence. The word "emergence" kept popping into my head during this time (and can be seen in the work Universe as well, which was created during the same period), and I understood it later as the emergence of a new way of perceiving and being. That will make sense, or it won't. And it will sound crazy, or it won't. I look at these paintings and I see and feel the sense of "What the F---?" that I was feeling, and they will probably always be special to me for that reason. The first painting in the series is a feature called "The Window" and looks out onto a vast, wild terrain. The poetry of that does not escape me.
"Emergence (The Window)" 2016 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
"Emergence (Ajuga de Rubin)" 2017 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
"Emergence (Goat Mountain)" 2017 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
"Emergence (Arroyo Mexicano)" 2017 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
"Emergence (Casa Grande)" 2017 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
"Emergence (Castolon)" 2017 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
"Emergence (Cerro Boludo)" 2017 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
"Emergence (Elephant Mountain)" 2017 | watercolor and gouache on paper | 24" x 18"
SUPPORT THE ARTS
Paintings from this series may be available for purchase at this time. Please contact me directly with serious inquiries only. If you'd like to support my practice in another way, I sell a selection of small originals, books, photography, and limited edition reproductions (in rare cases) via my online shop.
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