SERIOUSLY SILLY:

           Inspired by the following "profound" fortune that I found in my purse:

                "Your ability to see the silly in the serious will take you far."                         

On a “serious” note, I believe the concept in this “fortune” could apply to all of us. It’s so easy to allow the serious parts of life to dominate, or, I suppose, on the other hand, to be a little too flippant overall. It seems there should be a balance between the silly and the serious in our lives. And by silly, I don’t mean stupid. Silly lends itself to being more light-hearted, not so worried or burdened. I think serious is self- explanatory. It just seems “serious” can be too full of itself at times, silly can temper that.

This concept has many pathways to artistic expression. Some, in this show, are non-objective works with contrasting juxtaposed shapes, lines, and colors. Others may be seemingly more figurative, including the sculptural works, still displaying the serious/silly characteristics, but reduced and/or balanced by the visible interactions, and some a mix of all of the above.

A more specific description of some of the pieces might be as follows, high energy stored within a specific space (or spaces), interacting with flatter, perhaps lighter areas of color, with or without added simplistic lines and markings. These spaces convey a slightly serious or impending feeling which is somewhat diffused, as well as contained, by the contrasting area(s).

The energetic or “serious” areas are expressed specifically by the use of close-knit shapes seeming to press against one another, heavy black markings, gradations of shading, and lines within the composition that seem to want to escape the picture plane. The silly/whimsical areas are flatter, simpler and lighter-hearted by comparison, creating somewhat of a balance between what might be termed the silly and the serious.

Graffiti on the BeachThe BombeHey HeyEvowootionIndividual BIndividual APink MachinationsVenus Fly ChairThe AftermathAbove the CloudsSea Punctuations among other ThingsFeetOut of PlaceChester the JesterLooks OrganicSad Clown Upside DownLost PizzaMessage AdriftMixed MessagesPsychedelic PostGraffiti on the Beach 3D, 1,2,3 and 4Seriously SeriousSilly StationAbsorbing the EnvironmentThe EntanglementSerenityLose the DebrisMary Isn't Smiling