Notes from the Artist:
It has been said that poets and artists, in their highest calling, are the ones who enlarge
human consciousness by inviting the viewer to engage in an experience that inspires a
deeper search for an understanding of the nature of existence. Even as a young child,
my inner world was absorbed in an encounter with the immense mystery of the Universe.
At six years old, I spent endless hours lying on the carpet in my playroom with eyes closed,
attempting to imagine the infinity of the Universe. Trees, to me, were
portals of Light. I pondered the meaning of who we really are and what we are doing here
while the rest of the children made mud pies and ran through the streets. I spent
most of my adult years reading, peering, studying, working in the field of neuropsychology,
hospice and grief work, and advanced clinical hypnosis; absorbed in a meditative quest for
higher truths. Key to my experience was a near death encounter at 26 years old; a direct
experience of an all encompassing joy and beauty. My work as an artist and writer reflects
this journey, both with compassion for our shared journey as we reach for heightened
clarity and awareness during our often challenging journey of life, and in direct
relationship to the translucence of the mystery itself.
I engage with my art and writing as metaphors for deeper wisdom, a portal to an encounter
that may uncover insight and act as a gateway linking us to the greater universe of heightened
consciousness. One of my biggest pleasures is being present when a viewer engages
with a piece and begins to share stories with me unexpectedly unearthed. It is a moment
of intimacy and connection, linking us together in a shared journey to the heart of our being.
Integrating my sculptures with salvaged timeworn rusted metal pieces used in novel ways,
I create movement and interaction, as an invitation to shift perspective and experience altered
frames of reference.Through symbiotic connections between the written word, sculpture, and
paint, I call upon the senses in multiple pathways to experience the whole. I am drawn to that
parallel with life, our senses not separated from the whole, but interfacing in a web of
interconnectedness. As an artist I assimilate old pieces of broken necklaces, fabric, paper and
even rose petals from my garden into my paintings,often using surplus house paint on roofing
paper calling upon an aesthetic of beauty to arise from damaged, discarded, or commonplace
elements.
Process
I’ve been asked about the process I go through in the development of a piece of sculpture,
painting or writing. It may begin with an encounter at a salvage yard, (a place where I
immediately turn into an ecstatic 5 year old child) or it may arise from a flooding of feeling
during an encounter with the beauty and wonder of nature, music, or dance, or perhaps
a piece of writing, be it my own or another author’s work. A piece may be calling
to me from my unconscious, emerge during a meditation or a dream or arise during
moments of solitude late at night, in early morning or at my favorite part of the day, dusk,
and begin to push at me to be born until the tension becomes palpable and I engage.
There can be a sense of agitation, as a friend of mine calls it, ‘a thrashing about’ trying to get a hold of
something that is moving me. At best, I enter a 'zone" and engage in the calm center of being and creating.
More often lately, my sculptures and paintings seem to flow through me, so that it isn't until afterwards
I see and understand what I've created.
With special gratitude:
Martin Buber said that ‘most of us have at least one person in our life that inspires us to achieve more than we
thought possible. This person encourages us, gives us tools or just plain loves us unconditionally. This person,’
he said, ‘becomes the “wind under our wings”. These people usually have no idea the hope they inspire in our
hearts. They inspire us because of who they are, not because they seek a title.’
Carol Fregoso, Sculptor, has been such a person in my life; a mentor and dear friend to me, encouraging me to be present,
patient, to simply show up. What arises from the gentle spirit of her presence nearby, is a sudden understanding
that flowing through all our hands and hearts is something precious, a chronicling of our own unique spirits, and
this, more than anything, is a gift from the heart of a great teacher.
Also, my thanks to Maria Nikl, Artist, who freed me by blindfolding me to paint, among many other crazed and crazy techniques that were of course all brilliant, and taught me to let go of the preciousness of each stroke in order to be free and in touch with the deepest aspects of my painting work.
human consciousness by inviting the viewer to engage in an experience that inspires a
deeper search for an understanding of the nature of existence. Even as a young child,
my inner world was absorbed in an encounter with the immense mystery of the Universe.
At six years old, I spent endless hours lying on the carpet in my playroom with eyes closed,
attempting to imagine the infinity of the Universe. Trees, to me, were
portals of Light. I pondered the meaning of who we really are and what we are doing here
while the rest of the children made mud pies and ran through the streets. I spent
most of my adult years reading, peering, studying, working in the field of neuropsychology,
hospice and grief work, and advanced clinical hypnosis; absorbed in a meditative quest for
higher truths. Key to my experience was a near death encounter at 26 years old; a direct
experience of an all encompassing joy and beauty. My work as an artist and writer reflects
this journey, both with compassion for our shared journey as we reach for heightened
clarity and awareness during our often challenging journey of life, and in direct
relationship to the translucence of the mystery itself.
I engage with my art and writing as metaphors for deeper wisdom, a portal to an encounter
that may uncover insight and act as a gateway linking us to the greater universe of heightened
consciousness. One of my biggest pleasures is being present when a viewer engages
with a piece and begins to share stories with me unexpectedly unearthed. It is a moment
of intimacy and connection, linking us together in a shared journey to the heart of our being.
Integrating my sculptures with salvaged timeworn rusted metal pieces used in novel ways,
I create movement and interaction, as an invitation to shift perspective and experience altered
frames of reference.Through symbiotic connections between the written word, sculpture, and
paint, I call upon the senses in multiple pathways to experience the whole. I am drawn to that
parallel with life, our senses not separated from the whole, but interfacing in a web of
interconnectedness. As an artist I assimilate old pieces of broken necklaces, fabric, paper and
even rose petals from my garden into my paintings,often using surplus house paint on roofing
paper calling upon an aesthetic of beauty to arise from damaged, discarded, or commonplace
elements.
Process
I’ve been asked about the process I go through in the development of a piece of sculpture,
painting or writing. It may begin with an encounter at a salvage yard, (a place where I
immediately turn into an ecstatic 5 year old child) or it may arise from a flooding of feeling
during an encounter with the beauty and wonder of nature, music, or dance, or perhaps
a piece of writing, be it my own or another author’s work. A piece may be calling
to me from my unconscious, emerge during a meditation or a dream or arise during
moments of solitude late at night, in early morning or at my favorite part of the day, dusk,
and begin to push at me to be born until the tension becomes palpable and I engage.
There can be a sense of agitation, as a friend of mine calls it, ‘a thrashing about’ trying to get a hold of
something that is moving me. At best, I enter a 'zone" and engage in the calm center of being and creating.
More often lately, my sculptures and paintings seem to flow through me, so that it isn't until afterwards
I see and understand what I've created.
With special gratitude:
Martin Buber said that ‘most of us have at least one person in our life that inspires us to achieve more than we
thought possible. This person encourages us, gives us tools or just plain loves us unconditionally. This person,’
he said, ‘becomes the “wind under our wings”. These people usually have no idea the hope they inspire in our
hearts. They inspire us because of who they are, not because they seek a title.’
Carol Fregoso, Sculptor, has been such a person in my life; a mentor and dear friend to me, encouraging me to be present,
patient, to simply show up. What arises from the gentle spirit of her presence nearby, is a sudden understanding
that flowing through all our hands and hearts is something precious, a chronicling of our own unique spirits, and
this, more than anything, is a gift from the heart of a great teacher.
Also, my thanks to Maria Nikl, Artist, who freed me by blindfolding me to paint, among many other crazed and crazy techniques that were of course all brilliant, and taught me to let go of the preciousness of each stroke in order to be free and in touch with the deepest aspects of my painting work.
