I begin my process for this project with a vague
understanding of the famous manuscripts of Shan Hai Jing and therefore try to
enter the narrative with my own interpretations of the meanings of landscape,
body, and mythology.
I’m also referencing paintings I’ve created in the past
titled The Mouth, and my “sleeping woman” imagery. The Mouth paintings revealed
a topsy turvy world of no sky, a cavernous landscape. The sleeping woman is a
recurring motif of changing meaning but mainly an image contrasting
resilience and permeability.
I’ve recently moved closer to Toronto’s High Park
and I’m seeking inspiration there as well.
I am not creating preparatory
sketches or under drawings but working with liquid acrylic directly on cold
press watercolour paper. The intent of working so directly is to create an
immediacy and urgency in these works. I will allow the images to grow intuitively.
