Metaphorphosis

Joseph Campbell contends that wisdom resides in following our bliss. Albert Einstein declares that the only valuable thing is intuition. These two men, among countless others, speak truly. It is through my personal experience that I find myself nodding along in agreement with their insights.

In the beginning, I enjoyed the sweet pleasure of spending my early childhood years in rural Kentucky, which instilled in me a love of nature and a joy for reveling in the wonders of the world around me.

After more than four decades of living and spiritually seeking, I am, among other things, an accumulated mix of deep reverence for beauty, never ending delight in synchronistic happenings, intuitive dreams, mystical imaginings, and solid faith in the healing power of love.

Taking direction from my subconscious, I am very much a muse follower, meaning: when inspiration taps my shoulder, I take notes. To my thinking, art is the moment we commune with inspiration and the resulting piece, be it a poem, a song, a painting, etc., is simply the footprint left behind from our experience of joining with that moment. The result is then ours for the remembering, and if we feel moved to do so, it is ours for the sharing.

Because I creatively express as a means for more fully immersing myself in the gift of a given moment, it is very much like a meditation for me, both a retreat from the human condition and a celebration of it. Many years ago, I wrote: the control is in the release. This still rings true in every facet of my life, especially in my creative moments. For inspiration to shine through, for a piece to resonate with others, inspiration must be given center stage. In those moments, critical thinking just gets in the way.

Paradoxically, being fully present in the here and now has staying power.

I work in a wide variety of mediums, with my primary focus during the past two years being digital photography, digital image manipulation, and other digital creations, including paintings, collages and fractals. I also enjoy creating mandalas and am currently having a love affair with macro photography. My coffee table book, ‘Metaphorphosis’ is a compilation of poetry and visual expressions.  

The term ‘Metaphorphosis’ came into being as the title of a poem I wrote in 2009. Metaphorphosis symbolizes both those creative footprints left behind when trying to express discoveries made within, and the process itself. As the butterfly cocoons, so we go within. Expressing what we find there is the challenge. Rumi once professed, “…this love cannot be said.” I couldn’t agree more. But still, we reach. Metaphorphosis, in its entirety, including my book, multiple blogs and the limited edition prints I am currently offering, represents my collective reachings.

A peaceful world is dependent upon peaceful individuals. As I make this journey day by day, my brightest moments are when I am able to give myself permission to revel once more as I did when I was a child. In those moments, I am filled with peace and all is beautiful. It is for the love of beauty I choose to share those moments.

~*~

Both this artist statement and the following video were created for my gallery debut Upstairs at The Greenwich, in May 2010.