Genesis

Genesis does not refer to a biblical beginning but to the possibility of emergence. Influenced by theories of a cyclical universe, the painting considers creation as both a reorganization of what came before and a transition from one order to the next.

The spiral is found across radically different scales in our universe– from galaxies to hurricanes to seashells. The spiral becomes a model for how small movements can accumulate and ripple out into the larger system. The form contains organic shapes that disrupt the expectation of a predictable pattern. The shapes reflect the life that lives inside of these patterns and the remnants of previous cycles. Drawing from Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown, the spiral teaches us that adaptation is nonlinear, responsive and shaped in real time. It can often look imperfect but we are able to grow and evolve by bringing previous lessons with us.

The architectural forms in the lower right evoke inherited structures built around rigidity and control. The spiral appears to both overwhelm and emerge from them to reflect systems that are no longer able to contain the changes they have helped produce.

As we shift into a new paradigm, Genesis asks us to break out of our mirage of regularity to recognize that larger transformations are emerging. The reality of our world is cataclysmic but the living world reminds us that adaptation is a hopeless loss but how life continues.