The number one question I always get asked is whether I am going to explain the paintings. The evening of the opening I spoke briefly about the importance of the viewer and I would like to elaborate on that, I will first tell you that painting and language in the sense of speech are oxymorons. One is visual and preverbal and the other is a means of linguistics and communication.
So when someone says what do these mean I can only give you hints of my process and the ideas that I think about.
I like to set up fundamental questions like – how do I get a two dimensional flat surface to have movement.
I see painting as anthropomorphic to the point of breathing – Louise Fishman
Optical and lightness – gravity is suspended – Agnes Martin
Heightened state of perception
Resides in the medium but yes you must surpass that.
The reality of painting is its surface, it’s materials
Color becomes its own structure
The continuity between time and space between the making of the work, the work itself, and the viewer. I wanted material and color relationships – optics and physicality.
The issue is how to paint – In painting as in music, the idea can not be communicated other than through the arrangement of color or sounds. Colors behave like intonations.
Transfer of physical sensations to the object which in turn are transferred to the viewer. This interaction with a mute, inanimate object fused with a melding of lived ideas and experience that make painting so compelling.