2008

3 panels each 10.25" x 10.25" | 26cm x 26cm

marble, granite, smalti, piastrina, vitreous, van gogh and iridized glass, glass and crystal beads, hematite, mother of pearl, quartz, broken ceramics, glass rods, porcelain,pearls, 24kt colored mosaic gold

there are 2 primary aspects to this work.

firstly, i wanted to explore texture in a relatively spontaneous fashion, using only materials on hand. the idea for the black and white, and shades of gray, with the pulse, just came to me in an instant as soon as i opened the door in considering the possibility of doing this piece. i tried not to question or doubt myself on this... which would have compromised the spontaneous spirit, and to approach the project with a sense of adventure and experimentation.

secondly, inspired by the political, social, and religious climates of our time, this work is a meditation on extremes: right and wrong, good and evil, left and right, conservative and liberal, etc. i find this poem by rumi especially meaningful:

out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. i'll meet you there.

when the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn't make any sense.

there is a great variance in thickness of materials, which is very challenging. of course, i wanted texture, but i wanted controlled texture. beads can be very small... but they need to be raised high enough to catch the light... this is pretty tricky when working with other thick materials like marble. likewise, vitreous is thin and flat... how recessed do i want it for enhancing the textural look, without it looking sunken? and then, i wanted the pulse line to be raised above everything else.