abstract expressionism? that's new. I originally set out to paint an actual subject. I was in the Christ Church graveyard in Philadelphia. This is the church that a lot of the Founders attended. In the graveyard lie the tombs of many old Philadelphians. War heroes, country builders, important statesmen. Ben Franklin is buried there. Walking through it, I found a somber, melancholic beauty. I noticed graves as old as I've ever seen, some dating back well into the eighteenth century. I then noticed decay -- obelisks, tombstones, flat slabs of stone -- all showed signs of cracks and wear over the centuries. I couldn't read many of the headstones because the words were worn off. Many of the grave markers had worn down to nothing more than stubs.
Enter death-related existentialism. We can live and die then put up ornate, massive stone markers above our remains. But as time passes, even the largest gravestones wears down to a stub, then a pebble, then nothing at all. The world does not care that you lived or that you died. Originally, I wanted to paint this graveyard, somewhat as I had captured in the photo above. But as I started blocking out for that painting, I simply realized that I did not care about painting that subject or any other subject. So I just started layering paint with little active color, application, or composition choice. It's arbitrary. Just like the human condition. Over the past couple weeks, I've come to really like this little painting. I can't exactly say why. I guess it's liberating to realize that there are no rules in art. I can make whatever I wanna make, and that's all art is.
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