UNSEEN

We live in a time and culture where millions of images bombard our senses at incredible speeds relentlessly. But are we really seeing? There are things we don’t see, even when we are looking straight at them, and other things we stare at obsessively, so that we are blind to everything else. Such is human nature. My “Unseen” body of work questions what we prefer to see, that which is taken for granted and the passage of time. I paint from life, “en plein air”, (in the open air) as the Impressionists coined the phrase at the turn of the last century. This direct observation of life blends the moments of the act of seeing and painting with my personal history and creates a connection to a meaningful experience. The subject matter is not particularly outstanding, but scenes that are routinely overlooked…the un-seen. I select a perspective that is a reflection of a reality and a sense of place that at any moment can be lost to time. Primarily urban scenes, they also deal with the impermanence of our existence. We inhabit this world we‘ve made as it reflects a personal and social identity with change as the only constant force. This slice of reality is set in isolation, without the presence of people, to evoke a sense of stillness and quietude that allows the character of the space to be heard. In a blink of an eye, the art illuminates the image and raises the viewers’ consciousness and field of vision to a new experience. Mindful observation alters that which is seen and changes the seer, never to see the same.