Saturday, March 12, 2011

Nine Stones

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Nine Stones (Progression 1)
Oil on board, 2 panels, each panel 23" x 23", 2009
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Nine Stones (Progression 2)
Oil on board, 3 panels, each panel 23" x 23", 2009
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Nine Stones (Progression 3)
Oil on board, 4 panels, each panel 23" x 23"
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Nine Stones (detail from Progression 1)
Oil on board, 23" x 23"


Nine Stones (detail from Progression 2)
Oil on board, 23" x 23"



Nine Stones (detail from Progression 3)
Oil on board, 23" x 23"



























Nine Stones (detail from Progression 3)
Oil on board, 23" x 23"

This series is intended as a single work, composed of  nine separate panels.  They are displayed in three groupings, or "progressions", with 11" spacing between panels.

The piece had a pretty prosaic beginning. It grew out of my becoming aware of boulders that had been placed around the edge of a small gravel parking lot out at Ladd Marsh, near my home. Their repetition and regular spacing appealed to me--I had done paintings in the past using multiple panels and repeated images.  Their visual narratives always seemed to me to be reflections on the nature of time and states of change.

I got to thinking about these common rocks, and how uncommon they really are. Native American and other indigenous peoples around the world think of the entire earth as a living organism, while the history of our modern culture has been one of separating humans from nature. It occurred to me that the only reason we think of a rock as inanimate is because its lifespan is unimaginably longer than our own. Suddenly I could sense the "life" in these stones, as a vital part of the living earth.

In the paintings, it seemed important to stay true to their individual shapes--after all, these are "portraits." It may seem silly, but it's even important to me that they are displayed in the order I've placed them, which is their actual relationship at the Marsh. But I've tried to paint them in a way that is less literal, in hopes of expressing the living energy I sense in them. My hope was to somehow ground them in observed reality, while at the same time implying a larger reality beyond our comprehension.

2 comments:

Ecbatana said...

Magnificant series Don. And I like how you showed how this series lead to the next, with "Heavan and Earth" series...one can see the natural progression. You have helped me realize a solution to my problem I have been trying to work out...THANK YOU for your inspritation Don!
JLK

Don Gray said...

Thanks a lot, Ecbatana (Jacqueline). I enjoyed seeing your art and photos of your beautiful horses. I'm delighted if my work has been helpful to you!