November 1st, 2015 marked the Ten Year Anniversary of my ongoing series
"New Views of Mount Fuji".
Paintings, drawings, and
assemblage have been derived from a wide spectrum of associations, inspired in no small part by
Hokusai’s contribution to the Fuji genre. I have draped the mountain in
leopard, zebra and tiger skin. Fuji is observed in the form of a cupcake, at
the bottom of an hourglass, in a trompe l’oeil TV dinner tray and looming in the
distance behind a young Ricky Nelson in “Irrepressible Fuji”. Fuji is paired
with a spinning top, subjected to the forces of a magnet, decked out with
pearls and visited by an alien in “Area 51 Fuji”. While the "Fujis" generally amuse, there are at times sobering bits of synchronicity; a length of barbed
wire juxtaposed with the mountain suggested “Manzanar Fuji".
As my friend James
Scarborough wrote, “the series comments on the way a familiar thing becomes
invisible; one way to make it visible is to make it unfamiliar, if not a little
absurd. Think of how the artist Christo would wrap entire islands and
buildings, the better to recall attention to that which had perhaps escaped
one’s notice. “
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Cool Fuji 4 x 5" Prismacolor on Paper |
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