Perceived Distinction
Acrylic on 8" x 10" canvas, 2006
SOLD
It is a full moon tonight. I am feeling it. So in honor of the spirit of the full moon, I got a bottle of red wine - watch out world! This wild woman is on the loose!
I created this painting yesterday-today, among others where I'm carving out forms with the negetive space. This piece makes me think of trying to put ideas and experiences in understandable boxes, tucked away in one's memory in coded arrangements, to be retrieved later on. Life as it happens is so much bigger than what we can manage to hold onto, so I wonder what service these preserved pieces are to us. When I remember a certain birthday party, for example, I remember the time that so and so ate too much candy and got sick, or getting the doll that I wanted, or the flavor of the cake. All of the other elements of the experience are gone because they were never collected for the memory box in the first place. But those missing elements are what fills in the reality of our lives. All that we don't know, forget or didn't see, contribute just as much as the cherished, preserved bits we hold onto. Another painting I did a few weeks ago has a more appropriate title for this idea - Veiled Memories.
This title, Perceived Distinction, is about how we look at the world - this is black, and that is white, this is good, and that is bad, etc. In my own thoughts and spiritual seeking, I am attracted to the idea that there really are no boundary lines from one thing to the other. Duality, and the spectrum between opposites is OUR reality, but is it REALITY?
I recently read something along the lines of "when you can look at a stranger and see yourself, you will begin to understand the universe". Being unique makes us beautiful. Being connected makes us beautiful. It's all good.
"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together." - I Am The Walrus, The Beatles
7 comments:
Oooo -- I like this one.
me too! i like it and the one below...
hey... check our our regular website at artstreamstudios.com for more of megan's work... it is in our new show!
thanks for stopping by..
Jessica. After leaving me a comment the other day about my wax work, I really wanted to check out your work. I really like it, the negative space idea is interesting. I think as artists, we look in the negative space more than anyone else, eyeing what lurks there beyond the obvious, it's what makes artists and writers see the world... I could also be completely wrong.
I'm going to go check out artstreamsstudios too. Take care, I've added a few more waxes to my blog.
Here we are again at the source of the message and reason! I don't know if people are really seeing things that black and white. It often seems like it, because our brain automatically wants to put things into known categories, into these boxes. But when we give new things some times, the box starts to change form. New findings change our views slowly on how we perceive the old things within the same boxes.
I might hate the taste of cod liver oil, but when I tried one with orange essance in it, well first I hated it by preference. Then it tasted rather good then over the time the strict "bad" box around cod liver oil started to transform into "maybe".. the gray zone. I wonder if at the end of our lives everything becomes gray.
It is so that when we were teens, everything was simple. Back then things were either good or bad, it was easy to stand up to something. Nowadays with more experience, all those really important and clear matters have become the grey zone. Something I was willing to die for became just pointless. Your new art pieces show just nicely how the mental categories, the good and bad boxes start to melt and transform. Atleast this is how I see it. And I like it. Subjective five out of five stars.
Thanks everyone for stopping by! Matti, I think you're description of the "boxes" and how they dissolve, and reform is so true. Well put.
Wow, Jessica. This really freaks me out! You said in your blog that you are "carving out forms with the negetive space". That is one of the things I have been so interested in with my latest abstracts. Don't you love layering with glaze and removing portions of the painting to reveal an entirely new perspective? I feel as if I am involving my viewer in the process of creating a work when I do this. I need more time to paint and more time to chat with you for inspiration!!!
Jessica,
I just love your work! Especially now that I've read your explanation of it. I like what you say about reality. It really is all about perception. What comes to my mind is the saying about there being 3 sides to every story, my side, your side and the truth. Reality is something totally different for every person.
Oh and I love the Beatles quote! Perfectly fitting!
:)
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