Untitled, 08.25

The practice explores being, non-being and how the two relate. Going beyond this duality there is a sea of ontological interrelations, giving birth to forms and structures. Multidimensional, ever-evolving, infinite. Add sensibility to a structure and you have a dialectic. Art allows for that.

As much as it is considered, it is intuitive. It can be subtle, yet bold. Elusive, yet omnipresent. Push and pull, just like the sea. There is rhythm in that, a kind of poetry, which hopefully when activated contextually, resonates. In making sense, it questions, it reveals, it generates.

In the eternal now, we dance. And in doing so, attempt to holistically invoke the capacities of experience. What is there if not experience? I experience, therefore I paint. An emerging synthesis of ethics, cosmology, aesthetics, lived experience and anything else really.

And potential. This is where the cultivation comes in. I work like a gardener; tending to the garden. Flourishing can be understood as a measure of resonance, and it is not absolute or constant. There is a multiplicity of truths, positions, intentions, ways of being and becoming.

This is where agency comes into the picture. The wind speaks of freedom. The path is made by walking it, and the unknown whistles. And a door opens and something appears. To opening doors. To providing lenses of perception. To honouring this. To enjoying it. Why not?

Overcoming hierarchies, the one complements the many and the many the one. Differentiation and Integration. Mathematical or ontological. Emotional or Intellectual. Physical or Spiritual. What is the difference? There is a sense of compassion in this approach.

And the lovers embrace. To love and to respect is not always straightforward, yet one might say nothing is more rewarding. I believe in us, not because I have evidence but because I choose to. Painting and love making are a lot alike. Both can be transcendental.

There is a childlike quality present. A curiosity which longs for wisdom. When the process makes sense a form of communion with the work emerges, which co-leads the process, resembling a dialogue or dance. Trust, gratitude, and fulfilment are key elements.

The image is universal, yet personal. It alludes to something, without saying what it is. This allows the audience to see themselves, their own experience, in the work. To see the sky, a tree, the sun, the moon, the sea, lovers embracing, infinity, death, life, the in-between and beyond.

And the tree speaks. Even momentarily, the observed becomes the observer and vice versa. Whatever. It is what it is. Painting needs no justification. At the same time, it is a great thing to able to provide keys, which unlock it without it losing its essence. It is a skill in itself.

The presentation is part of the making of the work. The audience’s engagement is part of the making of the work. The work constantly evolves as part of a dynamic function with infinite variables. There is a kind of certitude that makes an act of art, art.

voiding dogmas. It is not always easy. How to maintain fluidity, freshness, being genuine? What values to establish and cultivate? How to navigate the abyss? A masterful captain loves the sea. To know when to put effort and when to let it be. Be humble, be confident and carry on.

Poiesis does not require making, it can take the form of rearranging or unfolding. Subtle public interventions. Engaging with found objects or events I create environments, which explore numinosity in the mundane and question notions of contemporaneity. The works are ephemeral, location specific and inform the rest of my practice.

The core is almost unknowable, yet it reveals itself in circles. I touch with my finger the surface of the cosmic water and that creates ripples. The ripples of my own making meet with that of others and together they make a field. May it be vast, may it be endless, may it be free.

Similarly, I apply paint on a surface. To question the I. To question the boundaries of the self. The self itself. To overcome. To transcend. Yet maybe this is a conversation for another time. For now let’s accept the I as it is. I am who I am. I am experience. I am an artist. I apply paint on a surface. I love it. I love the sea.

I am a pebble. Simplicity. Silence. Emptiness. Make room for love, make room for art, make room for being. Analysis can dissolve anything. You have to know when to stop. Know your tools. Know when and how to care and when not to. Be attached, be detached, time is of the essence.

To make art out of necessity. To make art because there is no other way. And if there are infinite other ways still to choose this one. To make art because you want to. To be playful, yet to know how to hold the intensity. To breathe.

Nothing. I want, need and enjoy nothing. I become nothing. And in doing so, I want, need and enjoy everything. I become everything. Everything. Let’s find somewhere between nothing and everything and swim there.

May we be who we want and need to be and may we enjoy it.

Free are together and together are free.