Dreams of Elders

Relatives long gone come back from time to time through dreams. It has always been a good experience. It usually makes me wonder what triggered that visitation. Was there a message? A warning? Or, more likely with my family, a joke?

This mask was full of challenges. I had never rendered fabric before. Nor had I ever tried to position multiple, fully-rendered figures on top of a mask. But, what fun is a project without problems to solve. The larger challenge with this one was how to paint it. I’m not sure this photo is fully accurate. The mask has a glow just below the figures.

Mixed media: 21" x 13" x 5".

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A Fish Called Wander

I have been thinking about prehistoric fish for a long time. I created the head for this piece months ago. A recent trip to the Seattle Art Museum to see a collection of Alexander Calder mobiles was the trigger to complete this. I didn’t know if it would swim until I suspended it. A slight breeze will keep it in motion. Now I’m debating whether to add two more fish or let this one swim alone.

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Deja Vu: The Persistence of Possibilities

Time is an illusion. There is no past, no future. There is an infinite “now”. The “Many Worlds” theory of quantum physics acknowledges that all possibilities exist at once. Through normal consciousness, we perceive one sequential path of possibilities. When our awareness encounters one of these infinite other worlds, it feels familiar because it is another version of what we are experiencing. .

That might explain what we experience as déjà vu. Literally translated from French, it means “already seen.” It describes an illusion, a memory of a scene or event that you are experiencing for the first time.

This sculpture suggests many things: a dance, a relationship, lovers, twins, opposites, etc. I began this piece with the concept of multiple variations of the personality encountering each other. The term of déjà vu quickly came to mind. When we see our thoughts reflected we are seeing through a portal in reality. I believe our ability to comprehend the complexity of consciousness is a result of how little we actually know about nature.

One surprise I encountered after shooting this video was that both figures, while rotating around each other also appear to be rotating on their own axis. It’s an illusion.

Evolution of an idea

A recent trip to Mexico was a visual tsunami. I was fascinated by a group of Frigate birds that soared above the beach every day. Their ability to glide with no apparent effort amazed me. Of course, sketches followed. My attention was also drawn to of the more primal imagery of the local artists and craftspeople. At some point, all of the imagery I was ingesting started to merge into a single image. This series shows the progression from inspiration to a finished mask. “Focus” measures 28” x 30” x 11”