Genesis I (Formation) Painting

Genesis I ( Formation) was inspired by Infinite Space and Science- I explore perception as a metaphor for existentialism. My paintings have colors that appear in constant flux, changing as one moves about them. Utilizing interference paints – a medium of crushed, titanium-coated mica that refracts light - the colors in these works shimmer and shift depending on the angle of the viewer. The shapes of the canvases, or the mirrored backgrounds in the case of the wall sculptures, create a framework of change as viewers move. What one sees is inherently tied to their personal perspective. Studying the physics of sensory perception, I use paint, pigments, forms or materials that manipulate light, creating a joyful experience on physical, emotional, or spiritual levels of being. Contradictions exist between color and form, perfection and accident, and idea versus image. Drawn to refracted light or energy, the viewer will experience each composition derived from interactions, exploring light and color, in a formal controlled geometry of Minimalism, using materiality. Perhaps they will relate faceting or simplification of geometric form, to the association of mechanization in our modern life. Perhaps they will see the vulnerability of our planet to outside forces, perhaps they will be the force of change that can help reduce our carbon footprint ensuring a safer climate for future generations. Futurist paintings fused the past and the present, but the multiplicity overlays in my work blend time and space distorting our views, and creating tension of change and disruption. The title is also a metaphor for a global chain of reactions in the natural environment. Our human activity has manifested itself in earth's geological record, creating an existential threat to our own survival. As the viewer moves or surrounding light conditions alter, these works seem to shift subtly, creating a complex spatial and temporal dynamic. Exploring outside forces in the abstract sense, the viewer will observe the changes as elements introduce themselves in the background altering the compositions, altering light and space, physically shifting scale, surface, and dimension. This body of work is a new chapter in my practice, beginning with Prisms, (2015-2020), Spheres (2018-2020); and current Climate Disruption (CDI & II) series of canvases, which serves as the bridge or the storm before the calm. The succession of the works in this series, recalls Earth’s own metamorphosis through the ages and the creation of the first life form. Transformation and change form new beliefs as how to co-exist in harmony with nature and experience the Divine in Nature. In my new works, I continue my exploration of radiant and interactive surfaces with innovative technique of creating digital compositions, then physically layering and painting luminescent colors that move and change as you move around them. My involvement in the Light and Space movement of Southern California, was born out of experience of open spaces on the coast where I lived for decades, although growing up in London, I encountered the modern movement and Bauhaus, studying Interior Architecture in urban environments of glass and metal; later in the freeway laden Los Angeles, I was driving half-blinded by the intense sun reflected on the mirror-like surface of the great Pacific, off the coast highway, I personally experience everything I am exploring. I was drawn to Picasso’s Analytical Cubism early works and studied them in my teens- later Frank Stella’s Protractor Series and early abstract compositions intrigued me as to how shapes interconnected or refracted light or energy, depicted in Robert Delaunay’s Orphism compositions that derived from Cubism, giving priority to light and color in my own work. Like many of these artists, I reject the Abstract Expressionist practices of using accident, favoring instead the controlled formal geometry of Minimalism, using materiality. I relate faceting or simplification of geometric forms, to the association of mechanization in our modern life. Futurist and Cubist paintings fused the past and the present, but the multiplicity of the views in my work blend time and space distorting our views of relativity, and creating tension of what is reality. As the viewer moves or surrounding light conditions alter, these works seem to shift subtly, creating a complex spatial and temporal dynamic. Like Mary Coarse said: “Where there is space, there is time...”