integral-insight.com

Below you will find extensions of my consciousness and being in the order that they materialized. I try to communicate some elements of my personal worldview in each of my paintings. I believe that art is honest expression and I do my best to convey my feelings, thoughts and ideas when I paint. Everything in my paintings has either conceptual or expressionistic significance.

Someone made the video below to tell others about the terrible genocide in Rwanda. I included it in this section so that you can learn a bit more about the holocaust that motivated my latest painting entitled: Genocide.

Genocide 24″x19″ acrylic on canvas

After watching the movie Hotel Rwanda, again, I was in terrible awe of the human capacity to become lost in separation, embrace ignorance, and resort to physical violence. Again, the culmination of countless people turning away from their true Nature and acting against their own interest (since the beginning of time) has resulted in suffering and slow progress toward a better existence. I believe that our true self is everything in reality. Therefore, for me to hurt others is to be harming myself. In the following painting, I tried to portray the senselessness and horror of Genocide.

I began by writing genocide down the middle of the canvas. Then, I used each of those letters that form genocide to spell other words going across the canvas. The first word used “G” and it was the first letter in Genuine. The next word began with E and it was Elements. With the rest of the letters from genocide I wrote the following words across the canvas: Need, To, Recognize, Interdivinity, And, and Evolve. The cross section of words looked like this:

Genuine
Elements
Need
tO
reCognize
Interdivinity
anD
Evolve

As I painted, I meditated on genocide and strove to illustrate the pain and madness that must be present for it to occur. I made the word genocide into a human and his head became the G at the top of the cross section of words. Next, I attempted to express positive energy and hope emanating from the human’s mouth. The rest of the canvas contains a large number of different messages, symbols, and ideas that contribute to my perception of genocide. However, like all my paintings, the many components connect to communicate the nondual nature of reality.

When dwelling on subjects that exhibit our primitive stage of human evolution, it is important to remain mindful of the following:

“For Ramakrishna, however, good and evil cease to have any meaning once moksha has been achieved, for whatever IS is good because it is God, and just as the poison in the snake does the snake no harm, so what appears evil to men who are still in bondage to their egos, is in itself not evil but good.” -R.C. Zaehner-

I painted Genocide over the summer of 2006 while working at the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont. I gave this painting to my friend Chris Ferrari when I stopped at his house on my way to Detroit because he is a good friend, I new that he would appreciate it, show it to people, and help setup my blog. Thank you Chris!

Collective Course 30″x30″ acrylic on canvas

When I began painting Collective Course, I was in my senior year at Fredonia State University. I began by painting a bridge that was also a dragon. The dragon-bridge symbolizes the path to finding one’s self. Inside the head of the dragon (upper left part of the canvas), I am present holding my palette, love is emitting from my chest, and the spirit has activated all my meridians.

The bottom part of the bridge-dragon also forms the head of a woman (bottom right section of the canvas). Her hair is composed of many cells and the first four that emanate from the top of her head say “Cell”, “Birth”, “Death”, and “Cell”. The rest of the cells, when combined, consecutively form the following phrase: “I and I”. All of the cells also form a tail/hair along the lower right side of the canvas that is twirling off into space. This section of the canvas is the body of a person. The tip of the tail (composed of cells) terminates with the head of a person. The person is staring at a point. On the point I have written “see the”. I would like people to “see the point”. The point is that we are all composed of cells forming a body and all of our bodies are part of nature (greater Self). Most of us see ourselves subjectively as “I”. However, it is plausible for one to see him or her self as “I” while also recognizing that one’s self is also the collective I.

Above the person’s head that is staring at “the point” (Top right corner of the canvas), I have attempted to illustrate the bliss of awakening to one’s own realization of reality and truth. This section is where the bridge carries one who directs his/her intention toward the benefit of the greater Self. One who is unhindered by the illusion of separation and studies natural law (God’s way) will move faster toward this realization of reality.

After the woman’s head with the hair that is composed of cells (moving toward the head of the dragon), another section contains a smaller dragon emanating from the head of a person. This image communicates the idea for the dragon-path that formed in my mind as I was painting. Under this section, there is the right arm of the dragon and a section that forms a whale. I like to paint a diverse array of images into my paintings for a number of reasons. I aim to communicate an idea, illicit an aesthetic emotion, fill negative space to better communicate the connectedness of the overall composition, or to remind a viewer that things can appear different when viewed from another perspective.

In the center of the canvas above the middle of the dragon-bridge, there is a young man reaching toward the top right side of the canvas. Above his outstretched hand is the word “Good” and “Bad” connected to each other. Knowledge of the insignificance of these words brings one a step closer to a deeper awareness. It is important to remember the following: “Whatever is done from love always occurs beyond good and evil”. This statement communicates the fallacy behind allowing one’s thoughts to be constrained by two meaningless words. Finally, when one embraces the idea that balance and perfection exist in the universe (as controlled by natural laws), a sense of calm, connectedness and gratefulness will likely emerge.

In the bottom left corner of the painting I have painted a man reaching out to grasp the concepts illustrated in Collective Course. The black frigidness of space engulfs his tiny prison of black and white (representing his limited and simpleminded view of reality). Although, he is not content with ignorance and he has a desire to learn from all aspects of reality. He wishes to reach the opposite side of the canvas where knowledge of greater Self awaits.

Self Portrait 16″x20″ acrylic on canvas

Look to the Sky 19″x11″ mixed media

Where am I? 16″x20″ acrylic on canvas

The Face of Reality 30″x40″ acrylic on canvas

Illumination Levels 24″x18″ acrylic on canvas

One 12″x24″ acrylic on canvas

Knowledge 16″x20″ acrylic on canvas

Universe 16″x20″ acrylic on canvas

Summer Garden 16″x20″ acrylic on canvas

Toast and Jam 24″x18″ acrylic on canvas

Multidimensional Moment 8.5″x11″ mixed media

Photography:

Marrakesh Afternoon

Gorge in Rutland, Vermont

Hello Flower

Graffiti - Lima Peru

Portuguese River at Dusk

Pond Near the Colony House in Dorset, Vermont

Dragon Fly in Dorset, Vermont

Some Music Videos That I Have Been Watching:

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition [excerpt] (Salzburg 2008 Dudamel)