I’ve been working over the last couple of months on how to position my village series for presentation. My current thinking is to have an exhibition called Pilgrimage that would include all of the village paintings, but also others related to similar experiences. The paintings would be accompanied by stories that relay the encounters that led to the paintings. Below is a draft of my artist statement for this exhibition.
Artist Statement for Pilgrimage
To go on a long journey … to confront obstacles …to be grateful for kindnesses
What places in the world have beckoned to you?
To do penance … to pay homage … to find meaning
How have “off the beaten path” experiences transformed you?
To seek answers to one’s deepest questions … to find one’s self through testing
In what ways have personal quests shaped your identity?
To see the world … to know the world … to become the world
When have people from other cultures deepened your humanity?
The paintings in Pilgrimage are the product of forty years of wanderlust – a passion that arose at the age of seventeen when I left my blue-collar home in Midwestern United States and embarked upon a quest that took me to remote sites around the world.
Paintings began emerging sporadically, as various meaningful experiences bubbled to the surface of my memory. In 2006 I began intentionally developing a body of work around human and cultural encounters that have shaped my identity. Many of these pieces are based upon an aerial view of a specific village where I lived and worked. In addition to colors, symbols, architecture and/or fabric patterns indicative of the culture of each location, I have embedded my own personal symbols to express the impact the people of that place had upon me.
I hope the narratives that accompany the paintings will not only deepen the viewing of the exhibition but also elicit the viewer's reflection upon her/his own personal quests.
Artist Statement for Pilgrimage
To go on a long journey … to confront obstacles …to be grateful for kindnesses
What places in the world have beckoned to you?
To do penance … to pay homage … to find meaning
How have “off the beaten path” experiences transformed you?
To seek answers to one’s deepest questions … to find one’s self through testing
In what ways have personal quests shaped your identity?
To see the world … to know the world … to become the world
When have people from other cultures deepened your humanity?
The paintings in Pilgrimage are the product of forty years of wanderlust – a passion that arose at the age of seventeen when I left my blue-collar home in Midwestern United States and embarked upon a quest that took me to remote sites around the world.
Paintings began emerging sporadically, as various meaningful experiences bubbled to the surface of my memory. In 2006 I began intentionally developing a body of work around human and cultural encounters that have shaped my identity. Many of these pieces are based upon an aerial view of a specific village where I lived and worked. In addition to colors, symbols, architecture and/or fabric patterns indicative of the culture of each location, I have embedded my own personal symbols to express the impact the people of that place had upon me.
I hope the narratives that accompany the paintings will not only deepen the viewing of the exhibition but also elicit the viewer's reflection upon her/his own personal quests.
