"Pulpit/Polar Disturbance"

This is a diptych that was created by joining two canvases: "Pulpit" on the left and "Polar Disturbance" on the right. At the time of this arrangement I had created a total three canvases of similar size and composition/theme; that of a crowded field of figures. These canvases were created with the idea that they could be exhibited close together to one another or joined together as diptychs or even as a triptych. Each canvas, however was painted individually as a stand alone painting. Thus joining them, to me, was something that came after they were painted and whether they "fit" together or not, whether one looks better on the left or right, is pure chance and preference and in each iteration could suggest a variety of narratives depending on the temperament of the beholder.

For the exhibit "JESUS CHRIST!" I chose to pair these two canvases and preferred the arrangement of "Pulpit" on the left and "Polar Disturbance" on the right. "Pulpit" fits the theme of the show best and of the three related canvases in this series, "Polar Disturbance", for me, moves the show's theme more towards the St. Francis of Assisi motif, of which I have periodically explored as a Christian and environmental theme. The movement and action of the figures in both paintings worked best for my eye in this arrangement, though it is also interesting the other way around. Ideas that one aggressor is attacking another aggressor, or transforming from one to another depends on one's politics or psyche. For me, the idea of aggression as a part of the natural order of an apex predator, being paired with an aggressive crowd of proselytizers, is enough of an unhealthy concept to open up a satisfactory array of thoughts, questions and musings regarding humanity's relationship to nature and regarding human nature itself.