Doesn't

This was the first piece I did this year when I was still living in Asheville. Unlike most of my other paintings there was no preconceived idea or concept before I started it. This colorful improvisation plays off a black background and introduces me to what I'm calling, "the year of the gradient."

Thoughts

Thoughts is about how our opinions change as time continues. As we learn more and gather more experience, the perspective we once possessed is challenged. And I have found myself sway from one side to the other on certain subjects.

I am chained to my passion and I will never be free.

Although the large white butcher knife and severed arm make this painting appear violent, it is not. It symbolizes that even if one were to lose their instrument (arm /hand) it would not quell their desire to create. This passion is shown as the chain.  The background in red representing the vital force of blood and blue skin as the color of veins from the outside and representing a vessel to create/carry blood. 

The key is irrelevant because there is no lock because as noted you cannot be freed from the passion to do/create. The fingers reach forward not for the keys but a ledge. Towards something new. 

(SENSE)

The totem pole of the five senses, represented in symbols corresponds to the order that they appear on the body from head to toe or in this case head to hands. A background of gold to express the richness senses bring to our lives and the memories they create in our mind. Two faces of the totem representing our split brain. Neither is angled to the dimensions featured within the painting creating our one face/body, ya know, minus the the two nose and two mouth thing. 

Protect Yourself

In certain parts of Asia, where tigers are present and cause deaths or injury, locals will wear masks on the back of their heads in order to deter tigers from attacking them. Apparently tigers will not attack you if they think you can see them or think you're looking at them. Sneaky bastards.

I painted this the day before I started my new job and thought the context was fitting. Also it's been the only time I felt using glossy orange was appropriate. But to me the glossy orange screams survival in this painting.

Developed 

UNTITLED

Stream 

This painting is my representation of our minds making sense of outside sensory information. As we touch, taste, and see this beautiful world our mind stores our experiences and helps us down the river of life. Outside sensory inputs come in sporadically and wild. As they cross the threshold the information becomes more organized and relatable to our past self/experience.