This series is at once highly personal and completely universal. I began it following the death of my mother. She inspired my entire life. A weaver, I began these pieces, as meditations in homage to her. Initially I worked through my sadness in drawings that developed into this series on canvas. I was deep into a year that began a new phase in my life and a year where eventually all my plans were canceled, postponed or morphed. The future became impossible to foresee.
The Coronavirus pandemic struck precisely at this time; like millions of others I contracted COVID-19. It took 14 weeks to complete recovery. During my recovery, my universe (population: one) did not extend beyond my home. I spent hours reflecting and observing. I returned to a world that had caught up with mine: canceled plans, painful surprises, loss, continually adjusting to the new reality. Most share the reality of not being able to see beyond a day or two. Changes are continually thrust on us. We exist hidden by masks, expressions undecipherable, our words muffled.
Once back to good health, I began working on canvas, a departure for me. New medium, new life, new world to record the obscurity, the uncertainty of this moment in history. For each work in this series, I withdraw to the quiet of my studio with no preconceived notion of the result, beyond color. This requires total focus; I get lost in each session. The placement of each impending line rises from the most recently painted line. Each “next step” is determined only after the previous step is completed. I call the piece finished when it seems right. It’s all intuited, but nothing is random.
This series is not about despair, sadness or fear. These works acknowledge the fickleness of our time, where nothing is unequivocal; the status quo has disappeared. We have the potential to reshape our world. Despite our obscure future; it is one of possibilities.
The Coronavirus pandemic struck precisely at this time; like millions of others I contracted COVID-19. It took 14 weeks to complete recovery. During my recovery, my universe (population: one) did not extend beyond my home. I spent hours reflecting and observing. I returned to a world that had caught up with mine: canceled plans, painful surprises, loss, continually adjusting to the new reality. Most share the reality of not being able to see beyond a day or two. Changes are continually thrust on us. We exist hidden by masks, expressions undecipherable, our words muffled.
Once back to good health, I began working on canvas, a departure for me. New medium, new life, new world to record the obscurity, the uncertainty of this moment in history. For each work in this series, I withdraw to the quiet of my studio with no preconceived notion of the result, beyond color. This requires total focus; I get lost in each session. The placement of each impending line rises from the most recently painted line. Each “next step” is determined only after the previous step is completed. I call the piece finished when it seems right. It’s all intuited, but nothing is random.
This series is not about despair, sadness or fear. These works acknowledge the fickleness of our time, where nothing is unequivocal; the status quo has disappeared. We have the potential to reshape our world. Despite our obscure future; it is one of possibilities.
Cerebral Weavings of a Future Obscured: Oracle I, 2020, (detail)