t: 416-524-1746
e: sio@sioart.com
INFLUX Studio Group |141 Spadina and Richmond
 
Nuclear Enlightment
Read the Artist Statement
  • 2005 Nuclear enlightment #1 Reverse painted on plexi-glass Acrylic ink and spray paint2005 Nuclear enlightment #1 Reverse painted on plexi-glass Acrylic ink and spray paint2005 Nuclear enlightment #1 Reverse painted on plexi-glass Acrylic ink and spray paint
  • 2005 Nuclear enlightment #2 Acrylic ink and spray paint Reverse painted on plexi-glass. Framed in African/Canadian maple, custom built2005 Nuclear enlightment #2 Acrylic ink and spray paint Reverse painted on plexi-glass. Framed in African/Canadian maple, custom built2005 Nuclear enlightment #2 Acrylic ink and spray paint Reverse painted on plexi-glass. Framed in African/Canadian maple, custom built
  • 2005 Nuclear enlightment #3 Acrylic ink and spray paint2005 Nuclear enlightment #3 Acrylic ink and spray paint2005 Nuclear enlightment #3 Acrylic ink and spray paint
  • 2005 Nuclear Enlightenment #4 Acrylic ink and spray paint Reverse painted on a window2005 Nuclear Enlightenment #4 Acrylic ink and spray paint Reverse painted on a window2005 Nuclear Enlightenment #4 Acrylic ink and spray paint Reverse painted on a window
  • 2005 Nuclear Enlightenment #5 Acrylic ink and spray paint on a window2005 Nuclear Enlightenment #5 Acrylic ink and spray paint on a window2005 Nuclear Enlightenment #5 Acrylic ink and spray paint on a window
  • 2005 Nuclear enlightment Nuclear Enlightenment #6 Reverse painted on a double glass window2005 Nuclear enlightment Nuclear Enlightenment #6 Reverse painted on a double glass window2005 Nuclear enlightment Nuclear Enlightenment #6 Reverse painted on a double glass window
  • 2005 Mischievous Buddha Zen baby Reverse painted on a double glass window 2005 Mischievous Buddha Zen baby Reverse painted on a double glass window 2005 Mischievous Buddha Zen baby Reverse painted on a double glass window
  • Nuclear enlightment buddha 2005 Oil stick and spray-paint on a windowNuclear enlightment buddha 2005 Oil stick and spray-paint on a windowNuclear enlightment buddha 2005 Oil stick and spray-paint on a window
  • Nuclear enlightment Kill bill baby 2005 Oil stick and spray-paint on a windowNuclear enlightment Kill bill baby 2005 Oil stick and spray-paint on a windowNuclear enlightment Kill bill baby 2005 Oil stick and spray-paint on a window
  • Nuclear enlightment My little duality side one Double sided window painting from the reverse painted side Oil stick and spray-paint
  • 2005 Nuclear enlightment My little duality Double sided window painting Oil stick and spray-paint on a window2005 Nuclear enlightment My little duality Double sided window painting Oil stick and spray-paint on a window2005 Nuclear enlightment My little duality Double sided window painting Oil stick and spray-paint on a window
 

Artist Statement

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”     Albert Einstein

“Nuclear Enlightenment” is inspired by the horrifying nuclear detonations in the cites of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan.  This body of work was developed on Queen Street West in Toronto, during the summer of 2005.  In the spirit of “The Grown Up Child” , I continued working with a child’s face in terms of a metaphor. I felt that the wide eye happiness in each of the photographs of children, was the perfect image to subvert. My intent was to convey the absurd and maddening reality of a race that has created a means of literally blowing up the planet.

In 2005, a group of Toronto artists and I were experimenting and creating artwork in a public studio setting. The blistering sun of that summer allowed for experimentation with wash techniques used to build these images in reverse. The painting was immediate and intuitive. The work is unique in the way the blacks and colors are layered and seen through the glass. The reflections and shadows animate the work and draw the viewer in, past the immediacy of the violent moment which the work portrays. It is within that space of intrigue that discourse happens, as I have experienced while vending my art in public.