I have been describing these last two weeks of my life as "being caught up in a tornado." It has been filled with creating new work for a solo show that opens at Southwest School of Art next week, writing chapters for the upcoming book and traveling to Dallas to pick up a show that closed at the Encaustic Center. At the same time...would you belive...we are in the process of some home rennovation. And then I watched the news.
The utter devestation created by the tornados that have been hitting in the mid-west this week has brought me to a new reality. While I have been speaking of the movement and excitement of a tornadic storm, the grim reality of the thing is something quite different. I have been using the metaphor as I am creating, producing and emassing. Those who have experienced a tornado can only describe it in terms of loss.I'm not yet sure of what this means for me, but I believe this new reality will have an effect on my work. There is something there for me about "quality" instead of quantity...something about "appreciating" rather than wanting....something about enough. What if all that you or I have created as a body of work, including the images we have on discs, are all gone in a moment? Would that allow more freedom to start over in a new direction? How do we carry our own history forward without historical data?
The utter devestation created by the tornados that have been hitting in the mid-west this week has brought me to a new reality. While I have been speaking of the movement and excitement of a tornadic storm, the grim reality of the thing is something quite different. I have been using the metaphor as I am creating, producing and emassing. Those who have experienced a tornado can only describe it in terms of loss.I'm not yet sure of what this means for me, but I believe this new reality will have an effect on my work. There is something there for me about "quality" instead of quantity...something about "appreciating" rather than wanting....something about enough. What if all that you or I have created as a body of work, including the images we have on discs, are all gone in a moment? Would that allow more freedom to start over in a new direction? How do we carry our own history forward without historical data?
I'd be interested in your answers to these questions and your personal reflections on the tragedy experienced by our mid-Western brothers and sisters.
