1998 The Saint Thomas series

369. ESHU

The mediating crossroads spirit of Yoruba.

375. AND MOVELESS FISH

IN THE WATER GLEAM

50x65” oil & sand on gessoed canvas

Uses the tilting of action to the front of the picture plane. Excess is privileged over refinement and pattern over form, as in Parade of Palms, bisecting the plain.

The works use the seed shape as connoting growth, attempting to subvert experiences of traditional sculptural forms. A substratum solidly anchored in the facets of change. Local idiosyncrasies with its powers of intercession appear in the art.

I borrow symbols from the religious folklore such as, the Yoruba deity, Eleggua and nailed or knife-pierced tongue that refers to a common charm used to repel gossip and the broom, used to sweep away evil, in home remedies of urban cancer. Paint drippings as evocations of sacrificial blood continued in the voodoo sect candomble’, as an art-historical network of connections.

279. The Sea Gatherers

Evening sky’s gray and cerulean tones merge toward the play of sunlight across irregular surfaces created by brooms, walking on water as artificial light and make a counterpoint to the deep bottle green sea. The leaves did not stir on the trees, grasshoppers chirped, and the monotonous hollow sound of the sea, rising up from below, spoke of the peace, of the eternal sleep awaiting us. Incorporating fertility symbols from the myths of the Tai’nos.

Ultimately all knowledge comes down to belief. The part of the brain known as the hippocampus is from the Greek word for sea horse, the Tao of physics is the linkage between science and mysticism.