THE FORCE

Poem by Eldon Taylor

Love is a force; the surgeon's scalpel is an instrument.
Instruments all have inherent within them a use and
misuse application.

Forces, like all energy forms including instruments,
possess by application both use and misuse principles.
Love can divide countries and motivate war. Love
possesses or frees.

Man is the fulcrum- the user- that through his
intention applies usage principles and practices that
prevent or transcend.

Man himself is both force and tool. He is an experimenter
and the experiment. His definition of right and wrong,
magical and sinful are his blueprints for the artifacts
of illusion. Man is, in truth, truth itself. He cannot
create truth or explain the truth, for that is like the
shadow explaining the form. Fulfillment is being
natural and the natural is magical.

THE STORY

Do you remember the first 21 days of the Lockdown?

I participated in an artist challenge in which we created art every day for 21 days (with a couple of added extra days of lockdown). I was house-sitting for my mother and didn't have access to my creative studio, so I attempted to improvise. I discovered cable ties in the kitchen drawer and was impressed by their flexibility and strength. I set out to make sculptural drawings out of wire ties.

Post-Lockdown I was still experimenting with cable ties when I came up with the "Simple T.E.S.T." collection. It demonstrated my sculptural versatility for working outside of the studio. I then chose to journal my thoughts and feelings when I re-entered society after a period of severe self-isolation. My awareness was at its peak as I kept a visual record of my encounters with people and self-observed them.

Eldon Taylor's poetry collection, "Simple Things and Simple Thoughts," drew me in. Taylor, at the same time, added a new depth to the emotion or issue I was dealing with at the moment. He helped me to see things from other angles, liberating me from any preconceived notions or associations I had with the issue.

Visions generally arise as I am reading the poetry while producing the artworks. I would frequently build shapes out of cable ties and match them to the text. Other times, I'd get ideas from photographs in the National Geographic 1980s collection and start piecing them together. Every work of art is the result of a "sense-feeling" process.

I was also drawn to artwork with a communicative nature. I researched Rebus Codes and began experimenting. A Rebus Code is a type of puzzle that uses illustrated graphics and individual letters to represent words or phrases.

A variety of genres, including Contemporary Modernity, Abstraction, Surrealism, and Impressionism, have affected the colour palette.

There is a healing quality to the works of art that is revealed after spending time with the image and poetry.