The Inspiration

Mona Lisa | 30 x 21 | oil on poplar

I recently taught an art history class for non-art majors at a local community college. While searching for images for one of my lectures, I came across this photo of the Mona Lisa, which began for me a line of thinking that has led to this proposal. It is well known that Da Vinci's painting hangs in a room within the Louvre, carefully sheltered from damage by a climate controlled enclosure of bullet-proof glass. Whatever one does or does not think of the Mona Lisa, few would argue that the protection of the work hampers the viewers ability to experience it. To me, the presence of this glass barrier is a perfect representation of our fears of interaction with others.

Fear, with almost absolute certainty, is something with which we can all claim some experience. Most commonly, our fears come in response to our own belief that we are, in some way, vulnerable to being hurt, and they manifest in the construction of barriers to protect ourselves from this potential damage. But these barriers stand in a struggle with our desire to live rich and fulfilling lives, interacting at will with everything and everyone around us.

I want to find out what is to be gained or lost by the removal of these barriers. Gained, I hope, is a heightened experience for visitors to the exhibition. They not only view the paintings, but are challenged to approach and touch a larger than life representation of a human face expressing some anxiety, within a museum setting. Gained also, will be a work of art that is bigger than any one person, but is the culmination of all those who have come to see and touch it, and have left some small part of themselves on the painting's surface.

While the expressions of the subjects seen in my paintings represent a level of anxiety, I offer them for exhibition without fear of loss or damage. This is because the objects themselves are in no way precious to me. The experience of placing them in the world, for all involved to experience and become a part of, is the true essence of the project.