Cathedral Light
Oil, wax, charcoal, pastel on linen.
Late afternoon light through stained glass moved across a cathedral wall, displaying opposites- massive angular architecture and delicate curvilinear structures; brilliant colors dancing on rough solid stone, against black liquid space.
Abstraction, realism. The past visible in that present of the afternoon. Background/foreground.
I wanted these differences to exist as unresolved in the painting as I saw them that day, playing off each other, but not mingling. I wanted the surface of the painting to absorb, not reflect light in those darker areas- like the parti-colored surface of the walls co-existed but contrasted with the deep recesses of shadows that sucked all but glimpses of light, and only hinted at what was there.
Cathedral Light is dedicated to my niece Tara