Emergent Manifestations

I have long been fascinated by the seeming ability of the human mind to find in the chaos of random interactions of patterns and light, such forms as faces and figures. To find something in what should be a totally abstract view that which harks back to our own humanity and our ability to convey the physical world through media, we seemingly and unconsciously yearn to see ourselves in these patterns of light. This constant striving to find representative forms in the abstract is a hallmark of our consciousness that transcends culture and the viewer’s appreciation and education in the arts, it is an instinctual impulse that drives many to see the face of saviors, devils, and anything in between in the clouds, the trees, and even burnt toast.
As such I have dedicated this series to using layers of pastel or conte crayon to build up these random interactions until such forms emerge from the chaos of stream of conscious drawing. The end abstraction I hope gives rise to a multitude of interpretations by the viewer, with each person able to find in it that which they see in themselves or the world around them. This emergence of form and shape from the seemingly haphazard coalescence of the media derives from my own fascination with potential ideas of emergent properties of the world being theorized in science: from our own consciousness being an emergent property of quantum interactions in the neurons, to both space and time being emergent properties from the very existence of the atoms making up all we encounter in our physical universe.