Why is it I can look at or create something and know it is beautiful? What inner workings must awaken to be moved by what I see? It is a question I cannot answer intellectually to my complete satisfaction. I have to feel it.
There was a time I considered us to be essentially spirit and that our biology was just the mechanics. Now, with advances in science that clearly show we respond to and are driven by certain physical attributes - even scents - in our selection of mates, and that we seek out a specific immunological landscape that will produce the hardiest offspring, I have begun to think it is biology that determines our essence. Fundamentally speaking, the mechanic is in the driver's seat.
Its not much of a romantic notion to contemplate everything one does, believes, thinks, seeks out and expresses is determined by physical make up. Yet, I do see this as somewhat miraculous. Wrapping my head around such infinite complexity for more than a few minutes at a time inevitably leads me to be ensnared by the dreaded hair-ball of conflicting ideas. Still, I can't help but wonder...is the key to truly understanding ourselves found in understanding beauty (whatever that is)? This is what I explore in my work.
36 X 48 acrylic on canvas
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