PARADISE
2005–2008

Paintings of tropical and subtropical nature. Images, scents, sounds, tastes, and touches—like stepping out from a cellar into the open. Green-on-green rainforests. You live entirely in the present moment, without thought, just perception. And you feel a deep sense of gratitude for simply being here. That’s what I was thinking about while painting. And also about that feeling of mystery—around every corner, behind every leaf or hill. And then the great mystery of it all: how everything connects, works, lives. The kind of mystery found in fairy tales. A vast, enigmatic land, breathtaking nature, an incomprehensible world—and our animal existence within it. As if the beauty and mystery of nature somehow amplify and provoke our own animality—with all its pleasures and smallness. We’ll only be here for a short while, barely enough time to touch it.