This series of work includes monotypes and paintings. As you see, I grouped it not by medium but by subject matter. It is because, no matter what medium I chose on any particular day, I was always painting the same forest. You can think of it as a portrait of a being, done from many different points of view. This is a very particular forest, I often end up there in my dreams or visions, and it always has its own, distinct signature. No matter where in it I find myself (a clearing, or a thicket), I always know “ah, this is my forest”. It is dear to me because it taught me not to be afraid of the dark. As a matter of fact – darkness plays a huge role in that space. It calls you to walk in and acts like a doorway into… well, something else. If you ever camped in the woods, especially when you were a child, remember the moment when you were sitting at a fire at night, and all the light and warmth of the universe seemed to be concentrated in that one little circle that you and your friends/family created around the fire. Beyond that little circle there was a sea of blackness, the kind of black that ate the light. It was alive and moving, and sometimes rather cold, but it was immense and powerful. I always felt it with my back and knew that there are things looking at us from that blackness. When I was little I was afraid of that power behind my back, but when, years later, I made the connection with my own dark forest inside my head, I was able to walk in that huge darkness and be ok. It is just another mode of existence. Sometimes I come there and just sit and rest. Walk around. Hopefully you will be able to make a bridge with your own dark space.Please click on a thumbnail to see the large image.
