Catharsis

Abstract

My work is about finding my way through a process of letting go of myths, security blankets, and unrealistic expectations in order to bring about changes and personal growth in myself. By expressing anxiety, frustration and confusion in my art, I allow myself to release tensions of daily routine that manifest themselves in my mind. The images I use are from my interior world. I become so obsessed with them that I become them- in this way they are visual substitutes for myself. Although my work contains identifiable images, narration is not my primary intent. My objective is more a visual expression of energy and emotions. Because of my background as a potter, I feel the need to treat the painting as a tactile surface. An expressionistic quality comes from dense building up of a variety of material to achieve a rich surface. The work is as much involved with the process of assemblage as it is with painting. My work evolves out of conflicts and dialogues between the intuitive and the intellectual. The intuitive stage is the impulsive and spontaneous response to certain images, forms and marks. The intellect struggles to go beyond the traditions and restrictions of my cumulative experience. Putting together these influences allow me. to draw upon my own imagination. The end of a piece comes when these two forces reach a balance and an order. This dialogue interlocks in a structure that communicates a sense of wholeness.