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Daniel Alan Gordon
It's About Love:
We All Begin Everything With a Flawless Heart
The non-thinking self is what I am referring to here. That sense of self that is really a sense of
light and love. A self-image that is not an image at all, but rather an idea that cannot ever be put
into words, but is immediately evident in a breath or pieces of sky or even a bit of paint.
I am realizing that all the proper prep, all the practiced strokes, all the thoughtful layout leading to a well constructed composition do mean quite a bit to a successful painting…BUT, emotional and physical letting go of all of that, in the execution of the painting, may be evermore essential.
The paintings truly do pull you along and tell you what they are to be-you just have to be willing
to get out of the way…or more specifically, get your ego and overly zealous self-critical voice
subdued. I work to calm those “voices” so that I am making each of the small but
consequential decisions in a painting with as pure an action as possible.
Intimacies and Boundaries: Paint and Wood
The interplay of wood working
and painting is important for me. I am realizing the two mediums are the proverbial cards I have been dealt to express the inexpressible. I was fairly certain, but not convinced, that trying to combine the two in a work of art was interesting, but might be bound by limitations of outcome.
My challenge has been how do you work toward creating a piece that employs both mediums,
but not in a gratuitous way. Or, said another way, using both mediums for artistic creation and
expression simply because I can. I do not feel conflicted in that way any longer;
I actually feel a bit of a calling to find the symbiosis of the two mediums to create something truly from the depths of my soul.
Boxes and Paintings
A box. When I took that very common form, especially to those of us trained in the art of
cabinetmaking, and placed one of my paintings on top of it, something clicked for me. Seems so simple. I think part of the appeal is seeing a painting you typically view vertically placed horizontally-a literal new vantage point. Also, the interplay of materials, i.e. wood and paint are done so with little superfluous thought.
A frame of sorts for the painting, just not for the wall;
rather, a functional frame that can easily be moved about if the owner chooses. Finally, there is
the excellent metaphor for a container, such as a box, filled with the mysteries only its owner
knows; an intimate narrative possibly, just in a common form.
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