Out of a box

Out of a Box - Perspective

20”x41” Acrylic on canvas, 2007

There are 11 white pieces arranged in a red background. Do they have anything in common? Are they different? Why 11? What about the red spaces in between? Contemplate to get the answer. The pieces are arranged horizontally and vertically but perspective provides the angles.

Out of a Box – Diagonal Arrangement

20”x30” Acrylic on canvas, 2008

There are 11 white pieces arranged in a red background. Do they have anything in common? Are they different? Why 11? What about the red spaces in between? Notice the odd one out?

Out of a Box - Cluster

14"x18" Acrylic on canvas, 2007

The 11 open cubes, all closely knit.

Halcyon

Acrylic on canvas 48” x 36”, 2010

The Halcyon or Kingfisher, as legend has it, has the ability to calm the seas for the days around the winter solstice so that it may nest and lay eggs. This work is meant to depict a flying kingfisher, as it calms the seas over which it flies. I have used the nets of cubes and their projections to evoke this image. An excerpt from John Dryden’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphosis is given below:

The episode that Dryden has translated in Ceyx and Alcyone follows Ceyx, the Trachinian king. He is resolved, after certain omens, to go by sea to the oracle at Claros. Alcyone, his beloved queen, begs him in vain not to leave. Ceyx's ship is wrecked in a storm and he dies. The ignorant Alcyone, at home, prays for his return; she angers Juno who orders a dream to be sent to her reporting Ceyx's death. Iris, Juno's messenger, reports this to the god of Sleep. Sleep sends his most capable son, Morpheus, to Alcyone in her sleep. Morpheus imitates Ceyx's ghost and tells her that he is dead. Alcyone, grief-stricken, goes onto the shore where she and Ceyx parted; Ceyx's body returns in the waves to her. She is transformed into a Halcyon bird by Apollo. She kisses Ceyx, who is revived and also transforms into a bird.