new series
The Temple of My Familiar:
Click on the thumbnail images for larger and alternate views.
The Temple of My Familiar is a new series of six paintings that started with a question: how do we see ourselves (and our bodies) in the context of history and tradition?
We worship the body. We destroy it. It is the subject of endless controversies and taboos. The body is a battlefield for spiritualists and scientists alike. By putting the basic structure of our bodies against dramatic backgrounds, and embellishing the surface with precious materials and additional elements (gold leaf, paintings of floral elements reminiscent of tapestries, etc.), I am attempting to create a conversation between our ideas of what is special, what is commonplace, and how we perceive the body. Boundaries are crossed when anatomical drawings go beyond its function and move into the realm of treasured objects.
Though the painting process to me is an experience of reconciling opposing forces of chance and choice, and of combining the unplanned and carefully selected elements, I had one small measure of control at the very beginning: I chose my printed materials that constitute the very bottom layer of each painting carefully.
In this case, it is a combination of Bible passages and some quotes of various philosophers. Why the Bible? Much of our perception of our bodies (how we see them, what we consider proper or improper in treatment, depiction, representation, etc.) is influenced historically, by Judeo-Christian traditions. Some parts of the background text are directly linked to the images, and some are random. For example, The Cradle, painting of a female pelvis, has a large selection of the passages particularly related to the representation of women, including Song of Songs. The background layer of Staring at the Sun, on another hand, is a combination of philosophy quotations and random passages from the Bible, suggesting the idea of conflict between reason and spiritual beliefs.
Deliberate choices come into play in this series through careful drawing, attention to details, and my choice of materials for overlaying images. Relationships between drawing and painting are explored in a search for balance between the controlled and the unpredictable, between simplicity and splendor.
The Temple of My Familiar series will be on show at
Morton College, Cicero, IL
from the end of February through March of 2009.