BrainTracts: in the heart of reason

And does not everything press upon your head and heart
And weave in eternal mystery invisible and visible around you?
Fill your heart from that
And when you are completely blissful in the feeling, then call it as you will
Call it Luck! Heart! Love! God! I have no name for it
Feeling is everything
The name is but noise and smoke, beclouding heaven's glow.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Faust) 1749-1832

Maybe due to a fear of what we cannot easily measure, several widely held views reject emotions as credible subject matter. Emotions are considered inferior to reason or they are metaphorically associated with the heart in a moment of Hallmarky expression. These paintings elevate emotions to be valued as sophisticated strategies for survival and investigate the brain as their source. Centuries ago philosophers argued that emotions allied with reason are essential to engaging in everyday life. I aim to regain this view, supported by increasing evidence that emotion and reason are mutually dependant.

BrainTracts includes eighteen 40" square paintings each representing one emotion. This work is an experiment in enveloping the viewer in experiencing a latent emotion that failed to be processed at the moment of its occurrence. The paintings become a retrospective construct as the fullness of experience unfolds long after its time. I like how the process of evoking and experiencing emotions allows me to arrive at a heightened sense of freedom that impacts the way in which I perceive, think and engage with the world in the present. This practice liberates me from a previously held identity.

Studies