Through my work I investigate our obsession of wanting to control everything around us to the extent of almost suffocating life. The flip side of such a state of mind is almost unimaginable! What would happen, if I finally just started to relax. What would happen to my body? The idea of letting go evokes a great deal of fear. A fear of the unknown which almost seems like a little death.
When I went to visit the Hermitage museum in Russia, I came upon a little Russian painting of a saint being confronted with the sight of the head of John the Baptist on the platter. This immediately gave me the idea of making this painting: My coming upon the sight of my own decapitated head on a platter in a beautiful pastoral landscape. This is the death of the unknown.
Gouache and pencil on paper, 2009
9 x 12″
Gouache and pencil on paper, 2009,
12 x 16″
Open your back for a beautiful and full sound. But, what will slip out if I do that?
Gouache and pencil on paper, 2009,
9 x 12″
C-print, 2009
9 x 12"
Photography in collaboration with Ji Lee
Pencil and gouache on paper. 2008,
9.4 x 11.8″
Gouache and pencil on paper, 2013
12.2 x 16.1″
Gouache, pencil and pencil on paper, 2009,
9 x 12"
Gouache and pencil on paper, 2009
9 x 12"
Oil on linen, 2010
38 x 68”
I AM A SPROUT.
(a poem I wrote inspired by this painting)
I am a sprout.
Sprouting is my daily job,
Shooting upwards to pierce the open virginal sky.
My underside however likes to investigate various hidden smells and textures.
It likes to reach downwards to where its moist and warm and undefined,
to where all shapes and colors surrender,
surrender to the gravitational pull of harmony.
The wind is caressing my rosy nipples and the heavens are reflecting,
reflecting all their accumulated information in turn onto my white skin.
Youth’s job is to move upward.
Old age’s is to move down- and inward towards its own reflection.
I do both.
Spending time in consideration of upwardness, might feel less threatening to some of us,
less worrisome than imagining the various subliminal possibilities of invasion.
Fear of adulteration seems very real!
No matter, my fingers will keep digging.