"So much lost...So much Forgotten...So what?"

Here are some paintings and sketch-work that supports them. The paintings aren't done, they will be subject to much more personal knit picking until Im satisfied with their outcome. The goal of my thesis series is to depict a physical manifestation that corresponds with a simplified emotional, internal identity. In other words, if I were to put it in the form of a question...it would sound something like this: "What would you look like if your body was a direct representation of your mind?". I was inspired by a real life example of this when I was at the Tomik fitness center on the Suny Cortland campus. I witnessed a myriad of young men who had transformed their bodies into shapes and sizes that simply yield no functional purpose for a human being. They were students of body building. For those who are unfamiliar, (modern)body building is a competitive sport in which one seeks to bastardize the human form and turn it into an ultra hellenistic showpiece. Muscle strength, endurance and personal athleticism are not judged. As I watched these gorillas make a mockery out of themselves and the fundamentals of strength training I realized they had transformed their bodies into their inner selves! This was quite an impressive thought! However, their success in the way of self-expression was more of a window into their own inner faults and absences of security than anything else (that's just like my opinion, ya dig?). -In any case, my paintings analyze thought process along with a corresponding figure(s). I stack masonite board to create a distinction between physical realms and conceptual realms. The handling of my paint is rough, physical and loose. The odd physical manifestations I depict are not of this world, that being said I would rather depict them loosely giving the viewer the chance to "fill in the gaps" with their imagination and come to their own conclusions about the creature and it's mind (and perhaps even wonder if their inner beastie bares some resemblance to those I have depicted...)