In a way, I am fortunate in that my work is non-verbal in nature so that the smokescreen of language does not have to be bypassed or passed through. I was recently on a panel in Boulder, Colorado about the Artist in Society. As our society becomes more fragmented, more bombarded with images, more numbed to feeling, more restless and impatient, what the artist has to offer becomes more and more essential to the health of the community. In a sense, there are three basic artistic strategies which fulfill this function. The third is to make art which in itself provides glimpses of a larger consciousness or reflects upon the inexplicable.
Some artists mirror the time in which they live.
Others convey in their work a sense of timelessness and continuity. That we have this variety of approaches is healthy and meaningful. It saddens me to think of how a country filled with energy, ingenuity and originality can have so little care about something which is ultimately so nourishing and life affirming. In other countries, art is still a vital forum. Here, art has become a commodity rather than a way of life.