the unraveling, the chaos, the regrowth

the chaos, the unraveling, the regrowth
Originally uploaded by patti_lorenzo-encarnacion

The title for this triptych did not come to me until my eldest daughter, Noe, said that the paintings look like balls of yarn unraveling. What a wonderful metaphor for life, I thought. Each of my paintings, I realize, is like a page out of my personal journal. This triptych tells of how my life began as simple and straightforward as little balls of color-coded yarn. The different colors symbolize the different facets that make a whole being. When those facets develop, there is an unraveling that takes place and the multiple parts of the psyche somehow intertwine as we try to make sense of who we are as an individual. There will be a point where those facets get tangled with each other and many times we need to untangle and even cut ourselves loose from the restrictive binds of wrong turns and knots that have been haphazardly tied. Eventually, we break free of those binds and knots and learn to smooth out the fibers of our being. We more consciously regroup our different colors at this time and live with a renewed sense of self.
Sometimes we go back to the unraveling. It becomes necessary when we hit an impasse and the process begins again.

FALLEN ANGEL

FALLEN ANGEL
Originally uploaded by patti_lorenzo-encarnacion

I've never had as many reactions to my artwork as I got with this one. 'Is this Icarus?' one person asked. Another one said that he can relate to the character. Some are just intrigued by the image and ask me who "she" is. I've even gotten friend requests from complete strangers all over the world on Facebook. What is so attractive about this image? Originally, Fallen Angel was inspired by an excerpt from Philippine Mermaid Stories, a book compiled by my friend Charity. One legend says that mermaids are angels that lose their wings for misbehaving. Upon falling into the sea, they become sea creatures and grow fish tails and fins.

I, myself, have many interpretations for this scene. Truth be told, this is the most personal of all the other mermaid illustrations I drew. This is probably why people are reacting to it. It was the most effortless image to produce and one of the quickest I came up with while sketching. So I will not get into my usual long philosophical, psychological banter about this image and it's endless meanings. By showing this work of art to the world wide web, I think I've said too much about myself already.

UNTITLED FLORA

UNTITLED FLORA
Originally uploaded by patti_lorenzo-encarnacion

The most exciting work I do is one that begins with absolutely nothing. Automatism, it goes without saying, is the creative mind's best friend. In UNTITLED FLORA, I started with pouring glazes over a blank canvas, having no plan whatsoever. I was tired of using a brush which was becoming too confining for me. I took an old palette knife and guided the porued glazes further down the canvas. Pretty as it already was, I wasn't satisfied. I left the canvas to dry, propped against my folded up treadmill. (Another excuse to skip exercise today.) A few days later, I turned the canvas upside down. The image literally grew out of nowhere. I suddenly had the tall grasses begging for adornment. I took the same palette knife and ironically did away with the palette. I mixed the paint straight on the canvas and manipulated the forms with my knife. So, I thought, this is how God must've felt when he was creating flowers. The sensation was almost feverish as the images unfolded- bloomed, so to speak. Where has my uninhibited personality been all this time? I have unleashed my inner passion that I have been restraining for so long. I have been hiding behind the fear of being called "an abstract artist because she can't do anything else". Well, that's what my tighter more detailed work is for. It's to prove a point. It's to show that I am worthy of being called an artist in terms of basic skills. So, realism is my sense of security. Abstraction, however, is that moment of passion when senses are heightened and the danger of exposing too much of yourself isn't enough for you to stop. The feeling is just too much for words- UNTITLED , if you will.

FLOAT

FLOAT
Originally uploaded by patti_lorenzo-encarnacion

Picture a still body of water. Picture dropping rocks and watch the water ripple. Picture dropping flowers and watching them float within those ripples.

FLOAT, 2008
24" x 30"
Acrylic on canvas
To purchase, visit:
noesartcompany.etsy.com

FLOAT

FLOAT
Originally uploaded by patti_lorenzo-encarnacion

Picture a still body of water. Picture dropping rocks and watch the water ripple. Picture dropping flowers and watching them float within those ripples.

FLOAT

FLOAT
Originally uploaded by patti_lorenzo-encarnacion

The Happy Medium

The Collective Unconscious 
Originally uploaded by patti_lorenzo-encarnacion

This was my very first "automatic" collage which was an assignment for a collage class I was taking at SAIC. It was made on fiberglass screen attached to canvas stretchers. The assignment was to create a collage that was not less than four square feet. (These are only two panels of a triptych) I decided to make a screen out of..well..screen. This is where my love affair with wild collages began. I sat in front of the screen, squeezing paint out of tubes right onto the scraps of gift tissue and slapping them from the back of the screen towards the front to achieve a "quilted" effect. I'm proud to say I didn't even use a palette so I did not waste any paint. Notice the scraps of paper towel with paint smears that I used to wipe my brushes with. I then started squeezing the paint directly on the screen and then literally slapping the gift tissue onto the globs. Looking back now, it is so stereotypical of an abstract expressionist.

Much as I enjoyed the process, I could not explain my purpose until I learned about the Jungian concept of the "collective unconscious". Until that discovery, this piece was untitled. If I could go back to the day I presented my piece, knowing what I know now, my professor would've probably had more to say about my work than "precious".  I would've probably started a new discussion, a new movement, and a new course to study. Wouldn't that have been great? I remember having those dreams and delusions of grandeur. It makes me wonder now if getting outside the boundaries of "normal" art is still a dream of mine, or is it a result of all my years of being the poster child for Murphy's Law. Is it my past or my future that helps me create these surreal images? Maybe the subconscious purpose of the triptych is to concretize the past, present, and the future.   Perhaps, I am in the center of all this organized chaos. Perhaps, I am more centered than I think.