Where am I Going? [2009 to 2022 and beyond]
During the first decade of 21 st century I was educated, trained, worked, and did research in the fields of personality, social psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, theology, and leader development in businesses and organizations. I co-developed an organizational culture assessment. By far, the greatest impact was starting to actually work in various cultures throughout the world. And, of all these experiences the one that profoundly changed my course of art and ideas was my two week immersion trip to Brazil, under the direction of Joerg Riegor – seeking an understanding of culture.
Multi-Media 36”x36” 2007
“Without awareness of our blind spots and what shapes us unconsciously, we will not be able to overcome the current impasse of theological reflection…..As theologians we still need to realize that what our theologies are asking for is only one indicator so to what they actually produce. Lacan’s attention to blind spots and related expressions will be particularly helpful in uncovering what drives a specific discourse and where its unconscious desires are located.”
I captured my Brazilian theological experience by mindfully focusing on content and what was “hidden between the lines”. I created a self-portrait where I was looking at myself face-to-face, being sent home in a wooden crate with Brazilian newspaper wrappings combining my old hardedge techniques with my intuitive expressions seeking meaning, with rich symbols of the Brazilian Christian narrative. My goal was to communicate that the truth of my experience was “between” my art and ideas. My experiences in Brazil jarred me into awareness that many, if not most of my beliefs, were a product of my culture and not based on a simple process of “do the next right thing” or “seek Universal truth” or some other version of a bumper sticker. Truth oriented wisdom requires digging deep into the unconscious.
My desire to understand the ideal way of life and the ideal culture had produced levels and levels of complexities. I found myself back exploring the application of expression aesthetic expressions across domains. I decided to create some art the reflected this complexity and point the viewer to the meaning of the painting “between the lines”. I looked at integrating many of the ideas of unconscious processes that I had researched an experience across all of my domains of interest.
Multi-Media 36”x48” 2007
“The Spirit and bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. ”
This was my attempt to integrate the cognitive sciences, theology, biblical studies, psychanalytic content, with my intuitive expressionistic approach. The meaning of this painting requires digging deep between levels of expression. The biblical verse is written in Portuguese and thus requires interpretation. However, the scripture is translated differently depending on the version of the Bible.
The Hebrew name for God, or the tetragrammaton, or Shem Hameforash, is primitively carved in the wood. Ascii code acts as “the ten commandments” in an imaginative presentation. The painting reveals all the complexities of a dream scape with levels of potential interpretation. Any attempts to “understand” the painting requires a considerable amount of expertise in a variety of fields with little hope that there is a single message, moral, or point to this painting.
This ambiguity is by design. The painting is an example of creativity, reflection, and inspiration 7 . The painting was a very conscious effort to hear the words between the lines of the various images and words. The painting completes a series of stages that I explored over many years and expresses a single thought phase to introduce the viewer into the depth of existence, the chaos of the creative act, the infinite mysteries of the finite, and Spiritual Realty with the question, “Who is like Thee?”. The painting was a stepping off point for the present and within the depth of the Spiritual Dimension.
Theology courses typically make a distinction between the Jewish created portion of the Bible and the Christian portion of the Bible. The books are typically referred to as “The Old Testament” and “The New Testament.” These labels are not without controversy and you will see that the section are labeled differently depending on the translators. For me, the division represents distinct cultures with many sub-cultures included in the biblical literature.
Acrylic on Canvas 72”X72” 2020
“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.”
This painting communicates the Christian beliefs that were instilled within the deepest parts of my mind and consciousness and, based on our current understanding in the cognitive sciences, influences and shapes many biases I was inculcated with during the first twenty-nine years of my life. The religious culture I was raised in adamantly taught that there was only one true faith, only one true God, and only one purpose in life for a Christian. Any even cursory look at my artwork of my lifetime clearly reveals my personal struggle with my faith tradition. However, while this painting presents the apocalyptic interpretation of these version in Daniel, it also presents these images within a context of “free will” questions. The scripture Romans 8: 28-30 is included in the Zodiac and reinforces the Christian doctrine of predestination.
How much freedom do humans have to explore and choose a life that creates meaning for themselves and others? Where do the fields of cognitive science, theology, neuro-science, and psychology stand on this question of determinism? Does human free will exist? Does eternal time differ from human time? What is time? My current and future course of art and ideas attempt to ask and explore “the right questions”.
My own decision is to accept the belief that there is a Spiritual Reality that humans participate in. I further believe it is a calling for all Spiritually oriented humans to take responsibility for and be committed to setting good moral examples. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to experience other cultures, and Eastern cultures specifically. I continue to walk this path and do my utmost to share my positive experience, hope, and strength concerning “the how” of striving to live a moral life.
Acrylic on Canvas 30”x40” 2015
“This book defines spirituality as the amalgam of the positive emotions that bind us to other human beings – and to our experience of “God” as we may understand Her/Him. Love, hope, joy, forgiveness, compassion, faith, awe, and gratitude are the spiritually important positive emotions addressed here.”
On October 13, 2016 the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, died. He was the longest reining monarch in the world at that time. The king was not particularly well known in the United States and even fewer individuals would have know that he was a fine musician and had written many compositions during his lifetime and had a close network of musicians that performed together. In December of 2016, I was asked by a good friend in Thailand, Buranasompob Pongrapee, if I would be interested in hosting a house concert where Thai musicians would come and play selected compositions of the King. Dr. Tong, as he is known by friends and the public was aware of my artwork and that I had painted live with musicians on occasions. The house concert was to be used as practice for a much larger performance at a Thai cultural center. I agreed to host and paint live with the group while they play seven of the Kings compositions.
The painting was completed over the three or four hours of the performance. As was my intuitive expression process, I started with a blank canvass with pre-selected pallet with other paints and brushes available. I did not have any subject of content in mind and had only heard portions of the selected pieces during rehearsals. I painted my feelings and mindful experience over the course of the evening. The only structure I used was to change colors and brushes between the seven pieces. After the end of the evening, Dr. Tong came up to me and remarked – “I see you painted the Buddha.” I was completely unaware of this image until he pointed it out.
“We humans beings are animals – highly complex, inescapably embodied,
intrinsically social, and sometimes even intelligent, animals – who live, move, and have our being via our ongoing relations with our environments. As such, we have a deep visceral, emotional, and qualitative relation to our world. As a result of our embodied nature, meaning comes to us via patterns, images, concepts, qualities, emotions, and feelings that constitute the basis of our experience, thought, and language. This visceral engagement with meaning, I will argue, is the proper purview of aesthetics. Consequently, aesthetic dimensions shape the very core of our human being.”
