Consider a painting, not in 1000 words, but in a few (continued)

The Eighth Consideration – Non Judgment Day

"I have been exploring the intensity of emotions, as manifested in connections between the urgency and excitement of present actions, and the mythological nostalgia of memories.  I want to arrange a visual poem that is full of sensations, and intertwined forms that cause the surface to boil with mystery."

"The human image is evident as a point of identification with who we are, and serves as an actor dancing with humble concern in the mortal play of life, while being surrounded with present and past props of tender remembrances.  In this tragic-comedy, what interests me is what the actors are thinking behind the masks that present the scripted plot to the audience.  I want an atmosphere that grabs and shakes you, and rhythms of shapes, lines, and colors that caress our brief journey in this universe, and hopefully touch the core of our being.  Sometimes painting is like screaming in a spaceless void, while at times it is gently praying to the essence of beauty, and the miracle of life."

"The exploration of these conditions call for an obsessive discipline, constant curiosity, the courage of confronting seeming impossibilities, and endlessly fighting the tyranny of illusion, while seducing the material into being your lover, so that together you may spark creation.  Finally, it is the common marriage of still time and flat space with limitless fantasy that synthesize into the uncommon, divine acts of discovery, realization, and origination."
—Alexander Shundi [View artist's website]

Comments from the November 2009 Exhibition:

"When I looked at this painting, I interpretted it as meaning that man reacts without thinking since there are many arms and legs and some bodies without heads. The one head that is shown has many faces, meaning to me that when man uses his head he cannot focus on one thing and often makes decisions with false consideration (false faces)." —Anonymous

"The various hands erupting from the individual depict the danger in seduction and desire; it will eat you alive. The hand that reaches into nothingness can also be the imagination of another, so even our most creative inspirations come from feeding off of others. There is a danger in reaching blindly into such pools of envy, but it is possible to reach beyond it. And even while our own desires are ripping us apart and tearing at our raw skin, we are using others to fulfill ourselves, and causing their shame while simultaneously being used by others. We wear many masks so that our true face is never judged. Even the innocence within us escapes and becomes tainted, and one's sense of self is masked by the shadows of others and the obsession with avoiding judgment." —MCD

"The tri-faced mask we all wear - past, present, future - serene, evil, good. The dichotomies of existence - the body/soul pierced by a crystal 'knife'. Masterful painting - transparency vs. opaque." —Anonymous

"One hand in water, one hand in wood, one hand in space, one hand in flesh, one hand in heart and more. Each hand in some basic element of life including our trancendental life." —Anonymous

"This is an unusal painting - can't just give it a brief glance - well executed but not for my living room. This painting belongs - with others by this artist - in a special exhibbit in the Metropolitan Museum. Congratulations! Well done." —Anonymous

"Very nice composition - Interesting work!" —Anonymous

"Amazing, beautiful but also painful and upsetting (that glass in the stomach)." —Anonymous

Barberry Senescence

"Senescence, the biological changes taking place as organisms age.  In plants, the growth phase of a plant part from full maturity to death."

"One bright January day,I focused on a barberry bush standing out in the snow. Snipping off the tip of a branch, I was struck by how different the remaining berries were.  Some round and full, others in various stages of drying, shrinkage, aging.  While then exploring these life phases with brush in hand, I eventually also found soft ghost images in the paint.  I like to consider them the omnipresent, amicable, protecting departed."
—Ann Chapin Fischer [View artist's collection]

Comments from the November 2009 Exhibition:

"Mysterious and beautiful." —Anonymous

"I love your color choices." —Anonymous

"Love the 'ghost' images!" —Anonymous

"Interesting work." —Anonymous