2013-2016
15 archival inkjet pigment prints framed as 5 triptychs; sizes variable from 32.5” x 89.625” to 32.5” x 97” ; edition of 6 plus 2 artist’s proofs
What is real is not the external form, but the essence of things... it is impossible for anyone to express anything essentially real by imitating its exterior surface. - Constantin Brancusi
The genesis of the Meditation series was a desire to work solely with the form of the circle again, but, unlike Ghost Circles, to do so at the very dark end of the tonal scale. As in that earlier series, the circle fills the entire frame, though here it is a sold black mass rather than an outline. The intention was to make all the images feel contemplative and other-worldly, containing almost no incident whatsoever except for the emanation of light surrounding and impinging on the circles.
Frequently, however, out of frustration at not being able to get an image with any life to it, I would start manipulating the black scrim, pinning, taping and weighing it down, until sometimes the slashing diagonal folds would create a charged sense of drama. I liked these images, but they didn’t fit with the feeling I wanted – until I began to see the work as triptychs: the dynamic, tension-filled image in the center, flanked by quietly radiant works right and left. They seemed to be metaphors for the difficulty of meditating; hence the title.