I will never forget my very first Art History class. Within the first 20 minutes, Dr. Klein displayed images of the Lascaux cave paintings, and I knew I was home. I realized, in that dark lecture hall, what Art is about, how fundamentally essential it is to our existence as human beings. In seeing these images, the Hall of Bulls, the mysterious figure being run down by a disemboweled bison, I was seeing the lifeblood of our being. I saw our past, present and future, the collective history of the universe. Though the path of discovering my place in Art is ongoing, I never questioned my purpose again. I am meant to serve Art, the oxygen of consciousness, and it became my everything.

Studying Art History caused me to search for what makes Art universally relevant. It is something beyond the image. It has something to do with the inherent power of the composition and an intimate relationship with its variables. You don’t need to know what a bull is to be moved by the power of the caves. I find this principle to be particularly poignant in abstraction, a true evolution of our relationship to reality. No matter the subject or era of its creation, Art provides a framework for timeless discovery.

In my own search, I find lessons in Art relative to the custodianship of this planet and to the salvation of human consciousness. One of those lessons is that every stroke has purpose. I layer my work and cover thousands and thousand of strokes of paint in the process. But without each of those strokes, I would not have gotten the piece to its next moments. I don’t use painting to express an image or idea, I find the image or idea through painting. Each stroke of paint is a living creature, coming together with the others to form a colonial organism. Like we need to do, as people, as living things, as a planet.

One very important aspect of my 3D work is that I often use plastic and garbage to build dimension. In an attempt to have every variable of the piece be a stroke of paint, these materials become unrecognizable. The ability to use objects as one would paint has perhaps the greatest immediate significance to our relationship with the planet. In the small scale, it is a way to use my paint tubes, old brushes, etc. instead of contributing to landfill culture. I have bags and bags of paint trash I save to use for this purpose. In the bigger picture, it sets a precedent for how we can use garbage across the globe.

Art is one of the few things we make that we want to last forever. We put millions into Art preservation and restoration. So why not turn the plastic clogging our oceans and destroying our planetary co-inhabitants into awe inspiring structures of epic Artistic scale? I envision cathedrals of plastic rendered beautiful, giant Art and community centers that foster learning, scientific discovery, community healing, and a common spirituality. The medieval cathedrals brought people together from all classes and walks of life in the celebration of spirit. We have evolved much since then. We can accomplish a great global unity through Art that does not mandate a particular system of beliefs. Art is meant to unite.

Art is also meant to challenge our sensibilities, our connections to ourselves. A few years ago, in SEATAC airport, I engaged in conversation with a retired tax attorney. I showed him pictures of my Artwork and he was blown away. But he looked at me with some concern and stated, “You know, someone could look at your work, be brought very deep inside themselves, and not like what they find.” This was a provocative statement, and showed me the deep conscious power of my work, Art rendered to create deep space-time. When the narrative is stripped away, you find yourself alone in a field of self reflection, with an opportunity to grow and heal. Color does this. Form does this. The greater the composition of variables, the greater the power it has to change us, and the world, for the better.

Thank you for this opportunity to share.

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