When the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts published their call for “Darkness & Shadow” I got really excited, because I often have a hard time to find art shows that are a good fit for my work. They were seeking Dark Art that portrayed the theme in their literal and symbolic form. “What do shadows illuminate? What does darkness obscure?”
When you talk about Dark Art, people think of weird, terrifying scenes of occult rituals, macabre death, horrific monsters and the unknown…. But there are a million ways to express darkness. It’s the hidden or mysterious, the raw and visceral, the ominous or unwanted that make us stop and think about ourselves.
My artwork is very colorful and I don’t predominantly use black. For me, it’s more interesting to understand the human nature – the dark side of ourselves that confuses us and makes us suffer. In mysterious ways, I go on my own journey and follow my heart. I create visually stunning scenes with lots of symbolism and surrealist elements. This helps me to attribute meanings to my behavior and thinking, to organize my inner dialogue and emotions. My images might provoke or irritate. Sometimes they drag you into chaos, sometimes they bring order.
Whenever you tell your story, you will get some feedback. My biggest takeaway from the artist roundtable discussion and reception at O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, was a comment from another artist. With “Between the Worlds”, I was focusing on the emptiness and on events in my life that I couldn’t control. But if your mind is constantly focusing what’s missing how can you ever sustain happiness? It doesn’t matter how successful you become or how much money you have, this feeling of worthlessness will be your truth. Don’t get me wrong. There are many things in my life that make me feel alive and excited. I feel grateful for being an artist who inspires others, and for the people I meet on my journey. But relationships only develop when we keep running into the person again and again, but when that stops the relationships die a natural death unless the people keep in touch and care. Life moves along, we are all on a journey to different destinations. We meet new people, make new friendships and form new bonds. That’s the beauty of life and what makes it interesting. When the other artist said referring to the empty swings, “There is room for new people to join your journey”, I realized that I just got stuck and needed to reach out to others. If you listen, even a complete stranger can add to your story, change your perspective and maybe your world.