THERE IS NO OTHER
Common sense suggests that each of us operates in the world as a separate being. When we meet, I talk to you and you talk to me. So much of the strife in our current culture seems to result from the too often unsatisfactory outcome of this perceived dynamic, from the friction caused by disagreements with these "other" people. But is this what's really going on? How often do you speak to someone, and then, even before you've finished, start to make assumptions about what the other person will say in reply? How often do you actually listen to someone else, rather than to your own thoughts, resulting in what amounts to a conversation of one? The same is often true when we look out into the world, too often seeing what we expect to see rather than taking time to really look at what is in front of us.
This series of collages, "There Is No Other," grew out of my attempt to really look at dozens of photographs of nature that I'd taken over the years--trees, flowers, overgrown bushes, cloud formations--and then to allow the inherent formations in those photos rise up. I didn't want to "create" anything, but rather hoped to allow the artworks to "rise up" on their own. To that end, I resisted imagining forms when looking at the photos, but tried to follow the shape of the forms that already existed. I was astounded in some cases at what was present in these images--the sidewalk oil spill that mimics a feminine form; the boulders that seem to possess eyes--but at other times, I could sense the collage slowly taking on the shape of an image in my mind. As a writer, I am prone to storytelling and allegories, so in the end, it was no surprise that all of these collages took on a mythical tone. Some other artist would no doubt have created completely different collages from this same material. Maybe we can only see what is in our minds eye? Maybe there is no "other" out in the world, but simply our own minds begging to be better understood?
This series of collages, "There Is No Other," grew out of my attempt to really look at dozens of photographs of nature that I'd taken over the years--trees, flowers, overgrown bushes, cloud formations--and then to allow the inherent formations in those photos rise up. I didn't want to "create" anything, but rather hoped to allow the artworks to "rise up" on their own. To that end, I resisted imagining forms when looking at the photos, but tried to follow the shape of the forms that already existed. I was astounded in some cases at what was present in these images--the sidewalk oil spill that mimics a feminine form; the boulders that seem to possess eyes--but at other times, I could sense the collage slowly taking on the shape of an image in my mind. As a writer, I am prone to storytelling and allegories, so in the end, it was no surprise that all of these collages took on a mythical tone. Some other artist would no doubt have created completely different collages from this same material. Maybe we can only see what is in our minds eye? Maybe there is no "other" out in the world, but simply our own minds begging to be better understood?
There Is No Other IV, 2024
Watercolor paper, collage
material, ink
Framed
39.5"h x 29"w x 1.5"d
There Is No Other I, 2024
Watercolor paper, collage
material, ink
Framed
39.5"h x 29"w x 1.5"d
There Is No Other II, 2024
Watercolor paper, collage
material, ink
Framed
39.5"h x 29"w x 1.5"d
There Is No Other V, 2024
Watercolor paper, collage
material, ink
Framed
33"h x 27.75"w x 1.5"d
There Is No Other VI, 2024
Watercolor paper, collage
material, ink
Framed
32"h x 28"w x 1.5"d
There Is No Other III, 2024
Watercolor paper, collage
material, ink
Framed
29"h x 39.5"w x 1.5"d