BACK STORY SERIES 2019-2024

The paintings in this series started in mid-2019, inspired by Werner Herzog’s documentary, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”, which houses the world’s oldest surviving paintings. I was very affected by this amazing artwork and felt a deep connection. I then understood that the earliest art impulse of humans was an innate artistic compulsion to represent the world around them. Their “contemporary” world.

This awakened in me the need to follow their example by basing a series of paintings on my own contemporary world. To emphasize this connection between my art and the ancients, I use simple tools that relate to the sticks and ash of the past. i.e., oil paint, made from raw pigments, and brushes resembling sticks. No digital or AI for me! So, in this painting series, figures and elements are all drawn from our contemporary world. They’re anonymous and suggestive rather than narrative, allowing for a free interpretation in order to present a poetic vision. Abstract but figurative, catching the moment but embodying universality, a homage to the semi-abstract paintings in the early caves.