About The Shape I Am In

The Shape I Am In was first installed from August 1, 2023 through September 1, 2023 at the Backfence Society Clubhouse, in Historic Downtown Vista Village, at 110 South Citrus Avenue, Vista, CA. Paintings from two series - one about brunch in bed, the other about what peacocks do during the day - presented visual concepts of shapes amplifying and informing meaning. Accompanying activities drew from concepts and materials in my work, inviting visitors to spend time in the gallery, spend time around the work, spend time thinking in different directions - like artists.

The idea is that shapes are what transforms an idea from one dimension into another dimensional form. Intrinsic to the process is the Fibonacci sequence - either as how the shape considers itself; layers into another shape; or how the shape amplifies or projects the future.

Attached to the forms as symbols, shapes often have inherited meanings - which I call “Artifactual Fictions” - that are not intuitive and require some kind of deliberate study or relay. To decode a story told in symbolism, a person has to recognize the symbols first, then extrapolate from the traditional meanings. The hard/fun part is being able to recognize the symbols at all - they are presented in superficial and dimensional form, in tone, attitude, beat, color, text, song, architecture - all of those and more, plus overlaps of them all to one another. But, if part of artistry is making something look effortless, then intrinsic to Artifactual Fictions is not being obvious.

Countering Artifactual Fictions is “Gestalt Theory,” which is how our minds interpret not only the shapes, but their proximity, relative scale, value, quantity, symmetry and occurrence. Simple compositions that lead to quick interpretations now involve symbols from Artifactual Fictions that have been so widely advertised, they can be instantly recognized - decontextualized. Not to be confused with conceptual depth, the instant recognition of the appearances by Artifactual Fictions is born of multiplicity as an outgrowth of printing.

In a blending of the two concepts, Contemporary Art balances the slight of hand in Gestalt against the mark of the hand - or lack thereof - in Artifactual Fictions. This disguise of the processing behind the work bends interpretations to favor the most superficial interpretations, maybe out of safety but more likely from lack of experience. Spending time with Art is a long process, conducted in many sessions, incorporating the work into and against other ideas, conversations, dinners, dreams, everything unforgotten. This relationship is the point. Over one’s lifetime, this relationship to the time spent together and further reflection in the past or future is the entire point of the work. This is a mental exercise that helps us understand how to use our inherited tools to leverage a better future outcome.

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