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November 19, 2015

Elsewhere

"Elsewhere", a solo show by artist Jonathan Ching opened at the Silverlens Galleries last October 29.  This successful show of photographs and paintings will end this Saturday, November 21.







Just like before, this artist presents us with an unconventional view of aesthetics. In his multi-panel paintings and his photographs, we glean insights into the memories and interpretations of the artist--the allure of the simple, the attraction of the broken-down, and the beauty in the unexpected.  

Big and proud, these signature detailed impastos must require so much both physically and mentally. All the work and time to translate thoughts and experiences and plans into creating these evocative artworks must be a repetitive cycle of exhaustion and gratification. From one small moment when Jonathan Ching sees something we are blind to, and feels something we are numb to, the knock on his door opens us to a whole new world, a step into beauty and hope. The whole process takes the artist "elsewhere", just as we eventually are too. 

As Paulo Coelho says, "Not everyone can see his dreams come true in the same way."

BOTTICELLI'S DAUGHTER

SOMEWHERE CALLED RED

INTO THE FOREST

WARM IS THE COLOR OF MY DREAM

THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SEA



ELSEWHERE

ELSEWHERE

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November 3, 2015

FATES and FURIES by Lauren Groff


It is utterly conceivable that one marriage can have different meanings to the couple it brings together.  The ideal is a true unity of spirits, a true communion of souls.  Yet it connects two people with different histories, different upbringings, different psyches, and different needs.  Thus makes a conventional marriage with two different realities. Two people inhabiting two completely different spheres in one marriage.

Using the female deities of Fates and Furies as metaphors, the novel is divided into two parts, each part aptly and respectively named.  The first part, Fates, is the story as seen from the view of Lancelot, nicknamed "Lotto".  This half of the narrative personifies destiny, portraying Lotto as the knight-in-shining-armor that his namesake is.  Lotto was fated to be born into wealth and privilege. Lotto was fated to be actor-turned-genius-playwright. Lotto was fated to have a solid marriage with the ever-devoted Mathilde.

The Furies half of the narrative is the story of justice and vengeance. For Mathilde, who comes from a history of tragedy, abandonment, and exploitation, this marriage is a lifesaving act.  She will do anything and everything to save Lotto and their commitment to each other.  Thus her fears harbor her secrets. Her story lets us in on her behind-the-scene life: a life of both devotion and betrayal, filled with acts that save and acts that squander.

It is difficult to judge who is the good and who is the evil, which secret builds up and which secret destroys. Characters, in life and in fiction, have to deal with complexities and surprises using tools they have acquired growing up, resulting in equivocal acts that are difficult to clearly classify.

This book, though, is undeniably a good read.  It is completely satisfying--  shifting versions and emotions, two points of view, and all its beautiful sentences.  I end this entry with some of my favorites.

"If one might die at any moment, one must live!"

"Some Cupid kills with arrow, some with traps."

"Please. Marriage is made of lies. Kind ones, mostly. Omissions. If you give voice to the things you think every day about your spouse, you'd crush them to paste. She never lied. Just never said."

"Paradox of marriage: you can never know someone entirely; you do know someone entirely."

"Never's a liar."

"Happiness feeds but doesn't nourish."

"Because it's true: more than the highlights, the bright events, it was in the small and the daily where she'd found life."


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