Description
In December 2016, shortly after I spent two years directing operations for a small solar installation company, I was commissioned to create an image of a Hindu temple populated by a small pantheon of gods. I studied paintings and images from various 18th and 19th century iconography. I found myself attempting to create field/ground relations where none existed in the original drawing, battling my eternally weird relationship with perspective.
I felt tight in the belly. I went to see my mentor, R.I.P.,Walter Feldman and showed him the studies and the painting itself. He said, “Start over – you’re not having any fun!”
Fun?
Who said painting was fun?
I went home and made two ancillary pieces, which turned into Leave Your Troubles Right Here and Burning Bush.
Yes, I had some fun.
When I finally returned to my tightly rendered original project I disappeared my architectural achievements – literal representation did not serve the painting’s higher purpose…
I begin to play – with scale, with color, with story.
Divinity, perhaps, has some relationship to fun.
