Embark

The year unravels and the days fall into one another as we all count the days until the students leave.  I'll sign off in a few weeks, my annual ritual of unplugging over the holidays helps me stay sane.  I feel that I'm coasting into December on vapors, one engine left and the other 3 enveloped in smoke.  I am spent; profoundly and utterly.

Yet.

I've begun my stations of the cross series.  I am not a religious person, but the story is so epic that I wanted to take it on creatively.  I've never been interested in being controversial or shocking people.  Despite being passionate about many issues, I've always remained mostly apolitical in my work.  So I do have the fear that these paintings will be maligned and misinterpreted and given agendas they will not have.  But the need to make them compels me, no matter the response.

I simply want to re-interpret the story.  I want to do it straight, without irony.  I've decided to rename some of the stations and alter the narrative, and it is likely those re-imagined versions will be the point of contention for some.  But that's honestly not my intention.  I know to refer to as it myth is deeply upsetting to a lot of people, but making myth personal is something that I believe is essential to our journey as humans.  I'm not concerned with historical accuracy or even a discussion as to whether the events depicted are real or embellished.  It doesn't matter to me.  It's a powerful story from which millions of people draw strength and comfort.  I've no wish to diminish it or mock it for anyone; quite to the contrary, I want to re-tell it to make it belong to people who might not even consider it in another context.

I'm reading Homer's Odyssey and it has cracked open a perspective toward art for me.  This series was a natural expression of where I find myself and what I personally believe art is for.

So these are my final apologies.   Like any body of work, once it goes out into the world I have no control as to how it will be received.  I can't worry about that in the making, either.  I have to be true to the course I set for myself in the studio and work with authenticity and integrity.

I've got the first two paintings in various states of beginning.  All 14 will be 6' square, and unlike the work I've been doing for the past 2 years, I don't know if I'm going to use white at all.  I envision them all black.  Originally I had thought to do them in order, but as I seldom name paintings until they are completed I felt this was disingenuous.  Better to paint what comes than work linearly from 1 to 14.  So the titles may skip around as I post the images over the next year.

I've also decided to make the titles in Italian as a nod to the painters of old and my heritage as a painter and craftsman.  We were once the earthly hands of the Divine.  We adorned the sanctuaries and painted the sacred stories for the illiterate.  We worked for Tribe, Village, Church and King.  What are now?  

I believe art should speak to our humanity and offer us a look inside our being.  Art should show us the depth of ourselves.  That's what I'm interested in.  That's why I do this.

So let the work stand.  I wish no ill towards anyone or their beliefs, but I'm not responsible for anyone else's feelings either.  In the end the paintings will endure or die because they are either good or bad.

So we begin...