Common Pollen: The Gently Penetrating
24.5 x 24.5 inches
Acrylic on paper
2018

I’ve been working on a series of paintings based on the pollen-shape of Helianthus annuus. This subtitle, The Gently Penetrating, comes from the I Ching, or Book of Changes: an ancient Chinese divination text that Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung described as “one long admonition to careful scrutiny of one’s own character, attitude, and motives.”

My edition of the I Ching was given to me as a wedding gift, by a clever poet. It’s a bit ragged from thumbing-throughs in the studio …  but this is the first time I’ve incorporated its uncanny wisdom into my art practice.