Gallery #1 -Enso
Artist Statement 2022
My creative processes are an exploration of impermanence and interconnectedness through a view of undifferentiated reality; the “Enso” is a symbol of emptiness and wholeness in Zen. These oil works are made by dispersing paint with different liquids; evaporation ensues, naturally leaving circles of residue. I then scratch and sand away like creating a palimpsest or new historical record. These activities address time, disintegration and the consequences of action or non-action on the environment.
Since 2020, my interests in zen, archetypal psychology, nature, and dreams started to inform one another. My research through mind-body associations like sensory practices and present-moment awareness practices in meditation, and studying where dreams and waking correspond became increasingly important. In the “Handworks”, tracing my hand repetitively, memories, and metaphoric imagery, expressed liminal experiences; these bloomed in the isolation of the pandemic. The watercolor works on paper are made of controlled circles drawn and filled by hand, and contrast the oil works which are made by uncontrolled dispersing of paint.
-Leslie Wagner