i've had the benefit of seeing some pretty great artists push the boundaries of their talents to a different level once in a while ...
at poetry readings, street raps, vocal performances, live bands, some guy blowing a solo, or that gem of a drawing or painting in a gallery, museum, or graffiti post ...
you know when they hit that level - that consciousness - ‘it’ captivates and transports us - but what is ‘it’ ?
maybe ‘it’ happens when experience and skill lose self-consciousness - perhaps its transcendent, or spiritual - but for anyone who has been in this zone, definitions remain vague and mysterious ...
over time, a lot of theories have been generated; from animism to zeitgeist - but i’ve always preferred duende - the flamenco explanation that understands ‘it’ as a process that culminates if conditions are in place ...
i’ve been working on a series of layered drawings for the past few years - inspired by an ice storm in february 2008 - and the observation that the ice took on its’ own form and characteristics from the skeleton of things it covered ... the forms of everything existed, but were veiled or obscured by their new skin - kind of like truth or essential meanings as they adapt to time ...
while working on these pieces, i often feel that they make themselves - and i just facilitate their completion ... an apparent cacophony of lines and symbols, flowing to simple rhythms and textures ...
