THE YOGA SERIES (BALANCE/IMBALANCE)

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Around the time I turned fifty I started practicing yoga because my lack of flexibility was causing injuries. I also started painting again after roughly a twenty-year hiatus for the same reasons, which slowly allowed the practice of yoga and the practice of painting to overlap.

When I walk into a yoga studio, it’s important that the storm of the outside world be stilled, so that I can focus on my balance. A pose might make me uneasy, depending on what demands it makes on my painful knees, hips, and back, requiring an even, measured breath to help calm my mind. An hour-long class then becomes a microcosm of life; moments of anxiety peppered into my day-to-day existence, which requires a patient, measured outlook so that I can find flow and balance.

The Yoga series of paintings are about imbalance and balance, about trying to find tranquility within an agitated environment, and the struggle between tension and calm. In these paintings I look to tug at the threads connecting these opposing states.