Passing: Fire Escape (Detail of Work in Progress)

Yet another detail (see last two posts), showing a bit more this time. Not finished yet.

This painting began with the idea of red flames, figures descending stairwells and climbing escape ladders while the earth’s treasure, all we cherish in this world, is vanishing, gone forever out the window. It is not so red anymore, but the fire and fear of red reaches back to a painting I originally posted in February last year, Nereids Enter the Burning Forest.

Here is the statement I wrote recently for that painting:

This painting is about bravery in the face of insurmountable odds.  The two figures run into a burning forest carrying balls of water, balloons.  They do this rather than step back, look away, leave the job to others.  With their action they counter the hopelessness we on the sidelines feel in these times of crisis.  As I write this, the world mourns in anger the seemingly targeted deaths of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza.

RED

Red for me means love and joy
But that is not the subject here.

Fire and Fear

This red is a line and a light:
Don’t cross, it taunts;
Don’t move, it mocks.

This red threatens and cons.
Courage, it cries!
Promising passion,
It pleads sacrifice.

This red is infernal
Gathering heat as it roils and rolls,
It bleeds its case.
It wants your life.

Fire Escape (Details of Work in Progress)

Acrylic, ink, pastel on canvas (2024)

Size: w 20″ x h 40″ x d 1.5″

This painting is taking hours and hours but it has gradually revealed itself in depth, texture, rich colour. Not quite finished, as yet.

Into White (III) Disintegration

Acrylic and graphite powder on canvas (2023)

Size: w 16″ x h 12″ x d 1″

Part III of Triptych Into White (I, II, III: Destruction, Extinction, Disintegration)

Into White (I, II, III:  Destruction, Extinction, Disintegration) — see previous posts for October and November — is a response to the current wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East, to the accelerating rate of extinction of species, to our rising fear for the future of the planet. It is currently on display at the Tri-Art Gallery in Kingston ON until early January 2024 as part of White, the first in a series of exhibits based on pigments. The entire show can be viewed online at https://www.triartgallery.ca/white

White is terror, white is peace; extreme heat and bitter cold.  For me, white especially symbolizes absence, before the beginning and after the end, the initial void and the final emptiness.  White is eternity, what always was and what will remain when time runs out.  I see white as non-existence but not to be confused with death, as it is outside the circle of mortality within which all other colours are eventually absorbed into black.  White is thus unknowable as it lies at one remove, not next or beside but one step away from life, after the chalk line has been erased.

Destruction:  The action or process of causing so much damage to something that it no longer exists or cannot be repaired.

Extinction:  The complete disappearance of a species from Earth.

Disintegration:  The process of losing cohesion and unity; of coming to pieces, falling apart.

Into White (II) Extinction

Acrylic, handmade paper, ink on cradled birch panel (2023)

Size: w 16″ x h 12″ x d 1.5″

Part II of Triptych Into White (I, II, III: Destruction, Extinction, Disintegration)

Extinction

Extinction is the complete disappearance of a species from earth (National Geographic Society).

Extinction: A situation in which something no longer exists (Cambridge Dictionary).

Into White (I) Destruction

Mixed media (acrylic, wood shavings, metal scrap, fence wire), 2023

Size: w 16″x h 12″ x h 1.5″ cradled birch panel

Part I of Triptych Into White (I, II, III: Destruction, Extinction, Disintegration)

Destruction

Rubble, ash, splintered wood, stone dust, pulverized concrete. What remains after the bombing of cities and catastrophe of earthquakes.

Dragonfly Dance: Young Nereids and the Red-Crowned Cranes

Dragonfly Dance: Young Nereids and the Red-Crowned Cranes (Detail)

Acrylic, ink, pastel, Japanese paper on cradled birch panel (2023)

Size: w 24″ x h 12″ x d 1.5″

The red-crowned cranes of northeast Asia are known for their beautiful plumage and graceful courtship dances. Here, they are joined by young Nereids practising their ballet steps. The dragonfly, an audience of one, is barely visible at the top centre of the painting. I owe my inspiration for this work to photographers Tim Flach (“Red Crown Cranes Courting” from his Endangered series) and Sarah Waiswa (“Last Act” from her Ballet in Kibera project) — thank you to both.

Nereids and the Ruby Sea Dragon (Detail of Work in Progress)

Acrylic, ink, Japanese paper on canvas (started 2021, still in progress 2023)

Size: w 22″ x h 28″‘ x d 2″

This is the first of two (or more) baby octopuses joining the Nereids in this painting. I think I am procrastinating about finishing the sea dragons who occupy the bottom half of the canvas, but who’s in a hurry? Unfortunately the sun came out when I had just gotten started photographing, so the top half of the image is a bit obscured in the glare.

Nereids and the Ruby Sea Dragon (Detail of Work in Progress)

Acrylic and Japanese paper on canvas (started 2021, still in progress 2023)

Size: w 22″ x h 28″ x d 2″

Yet another detail, this time of one of my two Nereids. Progress is slow over the summer months but I can see the way to the end (I think).