OCTOBER 2009
Artist Statement
In my art-making I am concerned with the alchemy and history of my materials. I collect raw material from nature to be combined in the work, as I believe the natural world is our most creative and ridiculous art museum. The content of the work varies as my mind wanders from the different wonders and tragedies that envelop the world.
Human nature has infinite capacity for compassion and for causation of suffering, for creative genius and blind destruction. In Buddhism and Christianity (the religions I am most acquainted with) there are belief systems that explain such inequity. Original Sin and Karma. In this exhibition “Original Karma,” mixed media art pieces display abstractly and figuratively these concepts.
“Lilith” the snake made from bronze and sea-glass is a reference to the woman in Jewish folklore said to be Adam’s first wife, she did not want to submit to him (to be underneath him during intercourse) and consequently flew away, threatening the lives of infants. In historical paintings Lilith is depicted with the body of a serpent and the head and bare chest of a woman (tempting Eve in some instances).
Looking at the contents of this exhibition I inquire… Is the totality of the worlds’ suffering due to a forbidden fruit, or a karmic debt we are continually paying off? Without a reason for the tragedies and inequities of the world…why on earth would we let them exist!
