Last week I posted my painterly response to this statement by poet Jorge Luis Borges, Years of solitude had taught him that, in one’s memory, all days tend to be the same, but that there is not a day, not even in jail or in the hospital, which does not bring surprises, which is not a translucent network of minimal surprises. It was the words translucent and minimal that caught my eye and mind and made me think about my painting process. The idea being that really seeing and understanding requires us to look at subtle shifts in our day to day lives. And with memory, these surprises are not clearly articulated happenings, but more like traces of emotions and experiences. I like to think that we are made up, as are my paintings, of these translucent layers which over time trap our experiences and form a life force and energy. It is this light –this inexplicable force– that we’re drawn to in both humanity and in nature’s atmosphere. Okay this is all a bit rambling, but as I said before, the idea is still formulating itself–as is my artistic response to it. This is today’s studio effort.
Untitled work in process, 36 x 36, oil on canvas