In Japanese language and culture there exists the presence of a character

 

間

It describes space as a pause or void or that which we may know as, or have come to call, negative space. It is pronounced ma, but I enjoy the Japanese kanji as a graphic response to the understanding of space in language. In my world, words and sentences often become obstacles in seeking the essence of the ‘thing’ they set out to define.

 

The Kanji itself describes more than I can with these words, as it is made up of the symbol for gate or door with the symbol for sun, or in an earlier variant moon, placed at its centre.

So in its essence the character describes an opening in a door by which light may pour through.

There is little more I can add to this image that may describe for you the reason for embracing this symbol as a catalyst for my practice, only that these things, objects or projects are here to encourage us to look deeply, beyond language, to the essences of their purpose.

I have found it difficult to describe why I feel that these objects and subjects may sit apart from others in my practice. Truly, they set out from the same home, and should remain in the same room, yet I feel they need their own seat at a different table.

The criteria for inclusion here is maybe suitably vague, but seems to mirror much of what I have been witness to as an artist working today, as father to my Son; reintroduced to learning, and as a member of the community of this planet.

The ecology of our approach to objects, how we perceive our environment; directly and as a tribe, and the understanding of space as material; in language and in spirit have all informed the nature of this work.
 

I see that each work holds its own space.

I see that intelligence is immeasurable, joyously so.

I see the forces that bind and separate us are elegantly equal.

I see how the essence of the void is not empty of things, but rather, full of space.