Whenever I come across an ink painting I find myself contemplating the ink’s seemingly abstract forms, much like an inkblot. By adding pen-made stipple marks to broad and spontaneous brushstrokes I add three-dimensionality to the normally two-dimensional forms. What results is neither drawn from life nor from my imagination, it simply lets the inner qualities of the strokes become more pronounced. Through this simple gesture, in homage to the Zen masters of the past, I hope to inject a bit of playfulness and humor into this long and treasured tradition of brush and ink. |