Mono-no-aware Statement
“Mono-no-aware”, is the Japanese term used to describe the bittersweet beauty of impermanence. The word is derived from the Japanese mono, meaning "things" and aware, the expression of measured surprise (similar to "ah" or "oh"). Thus, mono-no-aware is frequently interpreted as "the 'ahh-ness' of things”. This piece is based on my sense of mono-no-aware. Represented are some of my treasures, my times, my feelings.
This piece looks backward in time, it is profoundly nostalgic as, in fact, I am, too. Many of the elements are from my childhood as discussed below. Yet, the piece also embraces the constant change we must accept in life: both self-portraits stare over a horizon behind the viewer, as if into the future.
My art comes almost directly from my subconscious, i.e. my subject matter is revealed to me through process. However, once created on the board, the elements become tangible and can be identified. I will touch on a few of them. But only a few, the viewer is implored to read their own meaning into this and all of my work.
- The parachute and light bulbs relate to the heavens, which are a place for human contemplation and reverence.
- The sand is the mother from which the glass in this work was born and the form, in the far distant future, to which it will return.
- The hands on each of my shoulders are those of my mother and father. When these hand-trees appear in my work they represent harbingers of the “beyond,” spiritual and scientific, you could call them angels.
- The house is my house. One school of thought holds that when a child draws a house they are representing themselves. Very young children draw their houses floating off the ground because they don’t quite yet feel a part of the world; they are still a part of something else. But, once you start to see yourself as more a part of the world, your house becomes attached to it.
- The dark rain is worry, but, if you think about it, worry is always accompanied by hope. That hope is represented here by the glowing yellow glass circle in my gut.
So, this piece reflects my personal mono-no-aware as revealed in several of my treasures, my times, and my feelings.