The Veil Between 2006 In this new series of paintings a massive granite breakwater becomes a metaphor for the intersection of two worlds. A world where the power of nature confronts the hopeful yet ultimately futile attempt of mankind to protect itself. In The Veil Between, the veil referred to derives from the “thin places” of Celtic spirituality. Thin places are doorways between the everyday world and the world of the spirit: any location where the veil between the physical and the metaphysical is lifted enough that someone might pass back and forth between them. I have long been fascinated by the earth’s thin places. It was only after I began this series of paintings, where the uncontrollable forces of nature press in upon this simple but imposing human construction, that I realized that this location is for me a thin place. The ephemeral nature of fog also serves to force one to acknowledge the unknowable. Atmosphere both literally and figuratively alters our perception of things. It has been my challenge as a visual artist working in this series to wrestle with depicting an atmosphere that is in equal measure inviting and fearful. |