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Wetlands
60 " x 72 " Acrylic & Mixed Media on Panel, 2002
Private Collection



Fields of Color: Portfolio 1

This collection of paintings come primarily from two related series of work begun in 2002, The Alexandria Set and Terra Incognita. The Terra series has continued past these earlier paintings and will be included in the coming color field portfolios.

In particular, the basis for these paintings originates from the Babylonian stele--a stone tablet carved with text and pictures. I fancy the idea of creating a similar object suggesting some sort of language or communication, yet the object itself has been worn to the point of being undecipherable and as such becomes a mystery. The Alexandria Set originated based on my fascination with the ancient city in Egypt, and specifically, the Great Library of Alexandria that was lost to fire in 48 BC.

The aesthetic concerns guiding the Alexandria Set and Terra Incognita are very much related, and in fact are rooted in a number of previous series. If you are familiar with my earlier work, you may recognize a connection with paintings from "The Pages From Africa" and "The Rhythm Tablets" series. Creating these paintings on a panel structure provides a surface where the texture can be better observed and "read."

Here are five general definitions or descriptions that may provide a starting point when looking at this work. These definitions reference where I begin. All I'm really after is creating a place, an opportunity where one can steal a few minutes to exercise their imagination.

A stele (stelae) is described as: 1. "an upright stone slab or pillar engraved with an inscription or design and used as a monument, grave marker, etc."

Terra Incognita is described as: 1. "an unknown land; unexplored territory 2. an unknown or unexplored field of knowledge."

Reverie (to wander) is described as: 1. "dreamy thinking or imagining, esp. of agreeable things; fanciful musing; daydreaming. 2. a dreamy, fanciful, or visionary notion or daydream."

Palimpsest (to rub smooth) is described as: "a parchment, tablet, etc. that has been written upon or inscribed two or three times, the previous text or texts having been imperfectly erased and remaining, therefore, still partly visible."

Pentimento (pentimenti) has to do with showing some of the underlying layers in a painting, revealing ghost-like forms and marks from beneath the surface.


Beyond the idea of the stele, the paintings are meant to suggest the nature of the earth's surface (from various perspectives and scale)--scarred, marked, built-on and finally erased, revealing a pentimenti of sorts--evidence of another existence obscured beneath layers of dust, paint and time.