Painting, often conceived as at least somewhat permanent or static, is not so. Far from permanence or fixedness in space-time, painting fluctuates in harmony with its environment. Or more precisely, it is not separate or distinct from its environment. No more than we ourselves are discrete, unconnected beings.
I choose to work primarily in abstraction because it makes fewer presumptions about final meaning. The subject matter of abstraction in my work is that which lies between discrete states of being. Abstraction literally is change and as such it throws off the bondage of authorial intent and encourages the viewer to find his or her own connections to and associations with the piece: to literally remake the work, intermingling it with his or her own experiences, thoughts and feelings. There is no right way to view the piece, no “getting it.” It is what the viewer makes it.
One of the worthwhile aspects of being an artist is to initiate this collaboration. Works of art are made and remade again and again. The object to which the experience of art is tied is created through the skill and initiative of the artist but the experience itself is a relationship and like any relationship, it is continually reestablished. By working in the studio, the artist initiates a conversation that takes place in a medium outside of language. The relationships art makes possible allow us to interact, to communicate, to learn, to cultivate an understanding of the world that follows alternate channels and encom- passes divergent conceptions of existence.
