ARTISTS' STATEMENTS

Intelligence; Intuition; Spirit.
Nick Thabit

Get your point across no matter what the cost.
Dr. John

I LOVE YOU IGNATZ
Krazy Kat

MY WORKING PRACTICE

I usually begin by just putting paint on the canvas, developing a ground; deep, warm color, and a feeling within that; the ground can subtly influence the following picture. Over time gestures become informed, areas become defined, and sometimes figures emerge from the ground. A concept can develop and be worked out, or a state of consciousness (invisible in and of itself) can be alluded to, gently; tweaking the composition/surface, until...

Diebenkorn gave me the courage to work in the improvisatory way I do now; before that the monumentality and heroism of the New York School left me no option but to attack the canvas with 100% egoic savagery. Thanks, guys.

In working I feel as if I am in a two-way communication with the universe, speaking, listening. If I am simpatico enough to shut up and let it speak, good enough; if not, it's just me and my prosaic (archaic?) self. The concept of "self" has become suspicious to me as well. We are all interconnected. At what point do our edges blur into someone/thing else's? So: no self, no ideas = a winning formula.

How to finish? It is my practice never to finish a picture, I leave that to the viewer.

Then I sign it.

(Below: "The Window That I See Through," acrylic on canvas, 40" x 54")