SILICON PAINTINGS

SILICON PAINTINGS

Eight of my paintings will be shown at an art exhibition opening tomorrow Saturday, November 9, in Nairobi, Kenya.

These paintings I am showing in the exhibition are open—meaning that the paintings have no figures that can be identified as a person, place, object, tree, water or anything else that one could recognize and name. The paintings do not attempt to tell any story, nor do they illustrate any scene. The paintings are open to absorb whatever story the viewers may bring them, and they also assist in opening up the viewers’ minds to excavate memories and ideas that are in the subconscious of the viewers.

The paintings, therefore, are what many people would describe as abstract art.

But there is no such thing as “abstract” art. Abstract art is a form of fake art historical analysis, and using the term so casually might be an indication of lazy thinking. There is nothing in existence that is not connected to our reality and is not part of our shared humanity. Everything in art, just as in life, is an expression of our realism. But this Romantic language in which I write makes it impossible to imagine what I mean. In the indigenous language that is my first language, the idea that something is not “realistic” is not conceivable. My first language makes a spiritual connection between humans and all other things that can be seen, as well as things that are not visible to the naked eye. In my first language, you can speak to plants and wake them up. You can speak to a river and make it separate into two sides for you to walk through it.

Is this fantasy? No, it is not. It is just a really sophisticated language that is way ahead of its time. And the more advanced the modern society becomes, the more we realize that anything is possible.

My paintings in the Nairobi show are, therefore, keys that you can use to open and unlock the mind beyond the ordinary and mundane “reality.” If you keep staring at them, they will reveal a much deeper level of “reality” that could enable you to understand that nothing is impossible.

In addition, these are silicon paintings. They are made with silicon that is about four billion years old. Yes. Billion. Not million. Remember the Silicon Valley? The materials used for making these paintings are the same as what is inside your computer and all electronic gadgets