Wrapped Cloth
Artist Statement
Memory and private thoughts are my primary themes in these paintings of cloth. The wrapped forms suggest both secrets kept and the promise of a gift; you might imagine one of your dearest objects beneath the chaos of bound folds. A viewer might wander through a personal bank of symbols and desires during a meditation of what is contained within the fabric.
I allow the language of my images to be as precise and as elusive as poetic language; there are ties to poetry in execution (the subtlety of small changes, editing and honing of the image over a long time.) Poetry and painting are the ways my mind collects and protects imagery and meaning in my life.
I use cloth as a universal symbol of Civilization - a common thread - the fabric of time, of space, the flexible texture of memory and, also, how the brain operates scientifically. I think the mind is like a fabric, the weave of memory bound by reflection and shadow. The fabric of time and space does not dictate form but holds it (sometimes tenuously.) Cloth can be a curtain, an adornment, a shroud or a protection. All depends upon the point of observation.
