SIRENS, SAINTS and SINNERS

In the Spring of 2022, during a ten day silent meditation retreat, I had visions of places and people I had never seen or experienced. Curious, I began to research where they may have originated.

I picked up Joseph Campbell’s...

book, “Hero with a Thousand Faces” and was fascinated with his explanation of archetypes and the collective unconscious as an inherited database. This universal consciousness passes through times and cultures, allowing us to evoke the quality of an archetype we do not know we possess. When reading this, I immediately thought of several life experiences where I had never been called to perform what was required, nor did I think I could pull it off, but I did. It felt empowering to find myself in unfamiliar situations that evoked my higher nature.

Learning from this research, I wanted to incorporate these ideas into a new body of work. This series, SIRENS, SAINTS, AND SINNERS, emerged as the outcome. The resulting paintings hold elements of several different archetypes, while the faceless portraits allow room for the audience to see aspects of themselves in new and compelling ways.

My inquiry into the hero’s journey will continue as my work and life evolve. But, unlike the classic heroes, my goal is not to save the world but to save myself.

I believe if we heal as individuals, we can begin to heal the world.

A vital person can energize, strengthen, and heal those around them. We believe we seek meaning in life, but what we actually seek is an experience of being alive.

The world, to heal, needs people who feel alive.