I’m in the midst of finishing up work for my upcoming show at the Principle Gallery early next month. This show, my thirteenth there, is titled A Place to Stand , after the famed quote from Archimedes, and opens June 8. I’ve written here over the past few years about the process of working towards a show. For me, there’s a real rhythm that comes from this process, a deep groove where each new painting begins with little thought as to where it will go, each new piece just starting with a line or a slash of color then taking off on its own at a breakneck pace. This rhythm is something I look forward to with every show. It’s exciting to see work that sometimes doesn’t come so easily suddenly begin to flow easily before my eyes.
I’ve done this long enough to appreciate how rare and fleeting is this feeling. When I first experienced this euphoric rush, I didn’t recognize this, actually thinking it was just how things were, that I’d just progressed to a level where this was the norm. Years later and many peaks and valleys in between, I know better. As a result, I find myself really relishing the last few days when this rhythm seems to be fully in effect. Relishing and hoping that it will hang around for a while.
This is a painting that came from this rhythmic surge, a 12″ by 16″ canvas that I call Blue Sovereignty. There are a lot of things I could say about this painting. The coolness and smoothness of tone in it that gives it a placid pall, for example. Or how I see it as a sort of abstracted portrait when I look quickly at it, the moon serving as an eye in profile. Or about the title’s reference to sovereignty, about how we each have authority over our own life, our own empire of self.
Or any number of different things.
But I will leave those alone for now.
I think I just want to take it in without thought, much as it was created. Free and easy…
Redtree Times 