This painting, Foray, is built upon a previous layer, a self portrait painted from the imagination 29 years before. That completed artwork was titled Portrait of a Soul.
It is miraculous how many layers of meaning come out of the act of intentionally forming a new image from something created in the past. Especially when the first artwork was sourced out of intuition rather than from a live model. The new layer is captured in a more realistic fashion, reflecting “what is so.” When something is complete, creativity is unlocked.
The posture of the figure in this painting has always made me think of gazing into the future. Now it reminds me of the moment at the end of the Falling People story where we are tasked with creating a new future and invited to fall through it.
