Personal note

As my feet touch the ground I look beyond my small world into the larger global experience and am reminded of what inspired my paintings. It is hard not to be affected by the events happening across the earth. Devastation and violence reach beyond the boundaries set up by nations. Indeed it crept into my studio space. What started as a series about the general effects of time and history on our part of the universe became more specific about human choices made for power and greed, so willing to sacrifice the many for financial gain. It seemed fitting to call the series Moloch after the Caanite god to whom children were sacrificed and for my artist statement use the quote from Alan Ginsberg's poem Howl:


"Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping in the parks!

Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men!"


Thank you Harry Kent for reminding me of Howl in your moving self-portrait last year. It has been a touchstone for when I need some way to express frustration not only with my petty angst but also the horror experienced by many that I feel helpless to do anything about.