I am working with the big idea of consciousness: to be awake and aware of one’s own actions and their potential effects on the self and the surrounding world. This exclusively human attribute is married to free will, forming a dynamic duo that is both the perpetrator and the solution for every obstacle in life as we know it. There are many veins of thought that branch out from this fascinating concept, all of them worth exploring, but this specific piece reflects my own experience and interpretation of what it means to "wake up." This oil painting (untitled, for now) is my best attempt at visually explaining that first moment when I opened my heart and mind to the inextricable presence of my own consciousness and the power within. To be a part of the solution rather than the problem, one must consciously release all vices, distractions and prejudices in the name of focusing on how one might direct their own consciousness for the betterment of the world at large. In this moment, I found my purpose. The lifelong question of “why am I here” was answered in one word: Love. To be aware of this for the first time was an outpour of overwhelming relief and dazzling color over my previously black and white world. Tears fell like rain, and to this day my heart swells to bursting when I remember the moment I was saved from everything inside of me that didn’t belong there. Once purged of the dredge of politics, religion, the media, materialism, societal pressures, and the guilt of our pasts, we as human beings can be truly free to think for ourselves. Only then can we know wisdom. Only then can we know peace.
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