Finding meaning and purpose in painting can be a struggle. In my early years as an painter, I used to wear my heart on my sleeve and paint from the gut – raw emotions depicted and on the surface. As I’ve grown, the subject and meaning are more subtle, below the surface to be discovered by looking, thinking and feeling. While I avoid the dictates of illustrational image making, I do think the subject and meaning find their way in.
This painting is a reflection of the political divide in America, c.2025. Hi intensity circus colors, with ground cleaving a chasm reminiscent of a gear/mill form (where do the cylinders meet?) separate the chair entities. Is it coming together, or spreading apart? The ambiguity is intentional, and the meaning can shift as the viewer (mostly me) changes with.
Garish Clown Interior with Chasm, 2025
oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches