Artist Statement

	artist statement

	I want my Art to touch the soul. Although we live in an age where art trends lean toward the politics of our time, I choose instead to reflect a timeless, soul-inspired reality. My personal inspiration as an Artist is sourced in all cultures and epochs with the evocation of spirit the desired aim. The paintings employ mixed media on either high quality printing paper or canvas. Representational and abstract symbols stamped, drawn, or collaged, coexist with balanced design elements to create an overall visual harmony. Bold geometries suggest an archetypal language spoken in unseen dimensions. To interpret the symbols, one must use cognitive powers based on intuition rather than analysis or logic. As art is considered to be subjective, so too is the capacity to translate a symbolic language such as that experienced in dreams. In other words, we innately understand its meaning without having to be literal. The intention in this work is to suggest an expanded realm wherein our consciousness not only already dwells but also innately comprehends. Each painting can be experienced for both its surface beauty as well as being a visual meditation reflecting larger, abstract realities. Asandra 2006 Blog entry: March 9, 2008 Artreview.com The dreary vacuum of New York led me to paint in mostly gray hues. These were mixed grays; alizarin crimson and pthalo green for instance. One might see this as hidden colors appearing as gray. Even Matisse, the greatest colorist of all, used gray magnificently to support a vibrant use of color. When I moved to Florida, gray became absurd. It appeared flat and dull in the overbearing sunlight of the tropical skies. Suddenly, I was compelled to venture into an arena I had heretofore been afraid of. This did not come easily, however. I struggled to mix colors so that they did not look lifeless on the canvas. There was much trial and error - mostly error - before I broke through with the quintessential Miami-inspired painting. The colors were exuberant and thrilling. This was the break-though, cross-over painting I had been struggling to achieve! A new door had been flung open - I couldn't wait to discover, as an alchemist might, what shade or hue I would unearth in my mixing process. This occurred to the point where I became almost bored with the range of colors available to the human eye. If only I could invent a new color, I thought. This desire for invention led me to new possibilities as I aligned color upon color to create fresh ways of seeing the familiar. In Miami, fear of color is unheard of. I was no longer a New York painter. The brilliant sunlight had corrupted me. I had faced my artistic fears and ventured into territory New York artists never go. Now it is with great delight that I explore options such as a bright yellow-green sitting comfortably beside primary red. With no apologies, I might add. Gray still has a contented home in my paintings. It is often used, as I learned from many hours of staring at Matisse's "The Piano Lesson" at the Museum of Modern Art, to coolly hold together other colors. Sometimes I even venture into a purely gray monochromatic painting, knowing that color secretly lies beneath its' painted surface.
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