Artist StatementChurch Interiors: Space and SpiritThe philosopher Martin Heidegger links architecture with the old German word bauen, which meant dwell: to be on the earth and under the sky. This state of existence between earth and sky has both physical and spiritual dimensions. It suggests that our earthly dwelling, our interaction with the specific space in which we live, is not purely utilitarian but has a significance which relates to our very essence as human beings. I experience the painting process also as this dwelling – a means of grappling with the boundary between celestial and terrestrial. In the architecture of medieval churches I feel this dwelling take shape as an awareness of the divine; I sense that the architects built these spaces to be visible, tangible expressions of divine presence. They seem to be true dwelling places between earth and sky, intended to foster an encounter between heaven and earth. Like the cathedral builders, or Impressionist painters like Monet (whose Rouen cathedral paintings did not have the cathedral as their true subject, but rather the invisible light and air), I seek to use paint to articulate something which is without color or form. My paintings express my desire to explore the edge between visible and invisible, past and present, spiritual and physical. These cavernous structures were built for crowds of people and throngs of religious activity, but now hold only shadows of those presences. The shapes of archways reaching towards heaven, the rhythm of dark and light passing through these complex spaces inspire a sense of quiet awe and shadowy mystery. They are also an evocative metaphor for our own interior lives – that place where there is no longer thought, interest, or opinion, only listening and waiting in the darkness. Perhaps T.S. Eliot says it best in his Four Quartets: …You are not here to verify, |