This series considers times of turmoil — whether they exist in the physical or mental realms — that send us catapulting into the chasm of chaos.
Storms involve forces through conduits (water, emotions) where extremes collide. There is a devastation, powerlessness, a sense of the sublime that occurs when we realize we are not able to outrun the storm. And when the storm is over, the memory stays with us. Always close to the surface, but recollected as something from the distant past.
“Twas in another life time
One of toil and blood.
When blackness was a virtue
And the road was full of mud.
I came in from the wilderness
A creature void of form.
‘Come in.’ she said. ‘I’ll give you
Shelter from the storm.’”
Bob Dylan, 1975
Shelter from the Storm
Strangeness and beauty, disturbance and calmness are examined through watery landscapes in this series. By using water as a metaphor for emotions, the visible — water with its dynamic, unstable properties — becomes fused with the invisible – emotions and the subconscious.
The titles for most of these works have been appropriated from verses in songs — mostly Bob Dylan’s — whose lyrics deal with turmoil.