t: 416-524-1746
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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

“The notion of separation of functions, light versus dark, evil versus good, may be straightforward enough in Islam-…-but go back a bit and you see that it’s a pretty recent fabrication” Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses pg. 334

Nuclear Enlightenment is a series of eleven paintings portraying the ‘annihilation of the self’.

My approach to painting this idea was to take two seemingly opposing visions and fuse them into one. I imagined the instant where the atomic fire begins to dissolve, evaporate the self and I overlapped it with the idea of the instance where a person becomes enlightened, their idea of the self dissolving in light.

The paintings range between realistic and iconic approaches to portraiture. Each is painted from the reversed side of the glass.  I chose to use images of children in a state of joy as a reference. This is part of my ongoing exploration of a child’s face as a metaphor/symbol for enlightenment which originated in my previous “Grown up Child” body of work. Nuclear Enlightenment also continues my ongoing exploration of dualities their codependency and how they can inform a common shared reality, as is the case of the notions of light and darkness, life and death.