Sum of its Parts

“There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.”
Edgar Allan Poe, The Man of the Crowd

For several years now, I have occupied most of my artistic practice with the challenge and task to create a complex, dynamic, and awkward albeit attractive painting using simple materials such as watercolor and ink on paper. An uncountable number of hours has been spent hunched over my table, working both the inners and outers of the shapes and forms, being urged along by this concept of a “new image.” At times, it feels like a solely personal endeavor, based upon my own interest and definitions of what is new and worthwhile. And other times, it is a defiance to the rest of the art world (painting), the world of images and their creators.

Are there new narratives and visuals which have yet to be told or seen? Is it time to discard the brushes for more technologically advanced instruments? On this planet and in these times, are new human experiences possible? And if so, on what side of the human skin do they lay, the outer (physical) or inner (emotional/spiritual/intellectual)?

I prefer to think that the world is not as dualistic as it appears on the surface. That there is a third location, in relation to our bodies and minds, that is ever changing and considers the infinite number of views and interpretations, in the search for a better and more just understanding of our world.

(Justin Earl Grant, Houston, June 2022)