Commentaries

Having my say

Sometimes art imitates life and/or reflects what we find objectionable in the world. Supplementing the “I Was Here” series, which is itself a commentary with some of the works being anti-war, I also a have created several miscellaneous pieces, not the least of which are metaphors for desperation, abandonment, hope, and joy.

For example, the dog painting below (10 feet long total), a four-panel piece 31” x 31” x 2.5”  each panel, appears at first look to be just some dogs.  Yet, I have left several bits of information unanswered such as where they are, how they got there, what is transpiring between them, how each one is connected to the other. Could it be a metaphor for human loneliness, investigation, suspicion, fear, curiosity, or  indifference? Or, what might they be thinking? I have spent a considerable amount of time in rural Bolivia where like in much of the third world, dogs are homeless, which is what influenced me for painting dogs. This set of panels came about when a child started inventing stories about one of my  dog paintings and imagined where they might have come from, or what they were saying to each other. The dialogue is up to you.