VISUAL ART /

SCINTILLA (2022)

Scintilla is a series of acrylic paintings which depict multiple versions of the same dream, in which I was communicating with a tortoise through the conscious manipulation of our conjoined and illuminated tears. The eyes shown are certainly open to interpretation for the viewer, but for me they are my own inner eye and the eye of eternity. The crying is not at all sad, but rather a fluid creative communion of unspeakable beauty. This particular dream is one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had in my life. For this very personal reason, I continue to devote and honor this dream in many media. The series of paintings called "Zahar" are related illustrations of droplets from the Scintilla as shown from "above." The word scintilla refers to a "tiny spark of a specific quality or feeling" or the essence of the soul. And one day when my father feared for his life in the hospital, he spontaneously began singing a hymn that went, "It only takes a spark to keep the fire going..."