Remember back before you knew the word minus or subtract—back when you used the words take away? You know: nine take away two, or one hundred twenty-seven take away fifty-eight.
A little over two months ago I began playing with design elements, line and then shape in particular, as a vehicle for immersing myself in and focusing on the inherent acts of addition and subtraction when painting—not unconscious decisions about adding and subtracting, but mindful, eyes-open, paying-attention, deliberate, being-aware-of-making-decisions decisions.
Hard work.
One discovery: when painting, each addition is a subtraction, or taking away, of whatever was offered to the eyes prior to the addition, and every subtraction is an addition to whatever the painting is becoming. Each and every addition or subtraction is a decision. Each decision begets a subsequent decision.
My take-away, with this piece, a piece I considered cutting into confetti-sized pieces and pitching more than once, is gratitude for having held fast to my decision to engage as wholeheartedly as I could to the intentional practice of adding and subtracting way past my usual threshold for discomfort. I am grateful for having exercised my addition and subtraction muscles, for having sat—over and over again—with the ambiguity of not knowing.
In the end: a piece that now quite delights me! A piece that speaks to me of full-on mystery and magic—what is this painting? Where did it come from? How did it come from me?
Yet, here it is.
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Inviting Risk and Visitation of the Unknown 4.75 x 6.5", acrylic, ink, pencil, and oil pastel on paper canvas abstract 2022 |
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early stage of work in progress, countless decisions yet to be made and executed |
