• re: Meditation on History
    |   by Brent Nakamoto   

    Thank you! Your interpretation of the painting is very perceptive. I think we must both look at painting and photography in similar ways.

    I like to work from materials and subjects that I find beautiful, and I love when that natural beauty is still resonant in the final piece. I can't say that I choose my subjects with that intention exactly, but you're right. Painting live subjects—flowers or other plants, etcs.—seems too ephemeral for me, and I'm drawn to things that are remnants of something previously alive.

    • |   by Uji Venkat   

      In painting and photography, when we paint from life, we are ironically capturing only a single still moment. Perhaps in painting remnants, you are capturing more life than a single snapshot can. Your work tells a full history of years lived. Bark sustains rings for each year the tree has lived. Feathers have an origin and belong to an owner with a previous life. It is also quite clear that this painting tells a story of previous generations. As a viewer I may be projecting, but I feel that you have allowed more space for exactly that.