reflective expressionism

Today am introducing a genre that I know as reflective expressionism. For me, it is an extension of abstract expressionism, not a different name for the same thing. The similar elements are founded in the idea that the importance of the work is based in the process of creation rather than the output of a figurative picture. My work is created from a feeling process that continually has to fight off the intellectual notion that I have to create something with identity. In fact, I keep my camera in my studio to remind me that if I want subject then I should go take a picture.

Energy is an overused, and frankly, vague word to describe many "things" in our culture today. The explanation of energy I want to create in each piece is to allow a viewer to feel the essence of what is within her or him. Those that truly understand how to feel, and use their minds to interpret emotional thoughts will gain a better understanding of my work. This is my evolution as an artist, and is a fairly common conception of acclaimed abstract art.

However, reflective expression is the idea of creating something that has rhythm coordinated by shape, form, color, light, shadow, proximity, and the relationship of all those elements to one another. The idea is similar to creating music. Music is abstract. It is not tangible. Music can create an emotion. Think of a movie, and how music is used to set the scene. No lyrics, just the music. Reflective expressionism is the same concept; just with a canvas and some tools. It allows for a feeling; not an identity of a subject. It allows for a mind to take a back seat to the heart; not the other way around. And hopefully, it ignites a passion for what is within.

It isn't my feeling I want to communicate. I am at a place that is my development; not yours. The same circumstance experienced by you and me will be felt totally different based on our own place in time. We each own our own time. My work is about you finding your meaning; not mine. That is your truth for which nobody can deny you.

My work is not about my influence on you, except to provide something that may trigger a reflection in you that helps you understand truth as you know it. My hope that people desire to know truth about themselves, rather than truth identified as a standard that is created for critical purposes of others. I would hope that you would enable yourself to share yourself rather than hide in the social realm of homogeneity. You are on your way to celebrating you rather than being someone canned by others to be what they think you should be. Toast yourself when you can finally do this. In this context, my work is reflective expressionism.

Recently, I've been getting more people have asking me where this comes from in me. My best explanation in words is that I have a deep desire to understand truth. Not about telling the truth, not holding people to arbitrary committments. Absolute truth for who people really are inside, not the image of self. If you want to get to the root of every social problem that exists you have to be honest with self first. War exists because of a collective will of a culture whether acknowledged or not, and does not result from the decisions made by one person or group. Conflict in people and between people results from fear of the unknown aspects of being human. They are fearful of the imposition of someone else's will on them. Once you alleviate the fear, conflict will lessen. You alleviate fear by understanding yourself well enough to know that another person's will can never be your own, nor do you have the desire to impose an unsophisticated will onto others. This comfort enables an appreciation for differences, but it requires quiet reflection to attain.