I
started this work in a slightly different manner than most of my paintings.
For Joyride I decided to start with the idea and dive right into
the canvas. Usually there is a preparatory period to iron out ideas
and mock up images to see how everything will work. Not with this
one. For that reason, the composition is not as balanced as many of
my works tend to be.
The
theme behind Joyride is time travel.
The central motif at the bottom of the canvas is a large Aztec calendar.
It's a pretty literal symbol to represent time. Merging with
it are the frames of a View Master slide card. I start to show
my age here as many of my younger viewers will have no idea what this
is, so let me tell you. The really awesome thing about a View
Master was that it functioned as a simplified Stereoscope.
You looked through it and the images were three dimensional! Like
you were really there! So, three
dimensions overlaying the fourth
dimension of time (the calendar) and you have all four
dimensions in motion in the form of a great wheel.
What better place to find a wheel than underneath a vehicle? The Chevrolet
at the top represents several things... First, the obvious era of
the car from which it came, the nostalgia we feel for the past. A
technological advancement that as time moves forward becomes more and
more obsolete (like View Masters and Stereoscopes). Beyond the obvious
reference to the past, it represents a form of linear
motion. Point A to Point B. Straight line movement. So our
vehicle has been saddled with a much more powerful wheel to get us
where we need to be!
On the left side of the canvas is a dynamic image of a young woman. She
conveys youth, excitement and is very firmly grounded in our now. The
young of this world are usually most concerned with the immediate, so
she represents the here and now, which although it seems to be static
is actual in constant flux and motion as well.
To the right is a geisha. The geisha represents the exact opposite. The
role, form and function of a geisha has not evolved at all in the past
400 years. She is a figure living within her own time, or removed from
that time stream.
The frames of the View Master are filled with symbols from the Chinese system
of divination called the I-Ching. This is a system for telling the
future. By peeking through the frames of the View Master here, you can
symbolically see tomorrow.
So... four dimensions... past, present, future, and time at a standstill.
In the center of it all, the word "Joyride" emblazoned on the
license plate of
our vehicle. All this movement around, and yet the time travel I
weave my tale around has nothing to do with visiting dinosaurs or
the future race of mankind. It is the movement of time around us.
We move through time every second of the day.
The words of this explanation as you read them slip from future to present,
to your history in the blink of an eye. That's the Joyride. The
ride we're on right now.
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