Description
I was raised Catholic and grew up next to the Catholic church my family attended in Eatontown, NJ. This may be the reason for my early interest in the divine. Later my career path led me to the sciences, which made me question the dogma of my upbringing, but it did not reduce my fascination with the myriad belief systems of humans. Actually, my career as a physicist has increased my interest in what drives the universe, the source of natural forces and the afterlife. The body of work I have submitted is a product of my obsession with people’s beliefs, the inevitability of death, and the occult. Personally, I do not subscribe to any specific belief system, but the desire to make sense of this world via mystical beings and ritual practices exists in every society and has been interpreted by artists throughout recorded history. However, this work is not meant to memorialize the past and I have incorporated items and themes from sources as disparate as film, tattoos and circus posters. The portrait of Santa Muerte was my starting point in this series of work. As a gay man, former punk rocker, and all-around misfit, the image and idea of Santa Muerte is very attractive. The Catholic church, especially in Latin American countries, rejects homosexuals, prostitutes, and those who operate on the margins of the law. Santa Muerte, the holy personification of death, is impartial and excepting of all. She is a product of the cult of crisis, and her followers increase during times of extreme hardship. She is a deity who does not judge. This portrait is one of my favorite paintings and lifts my spirits every time I look at it. Tarot cards have always fascinated me. A tool used by gifted persons to divine a seekers situation and suggest a path forward through life. Even if they contain no magic, the illustrations on the cards all suggest a narrative in the intricacy of their details. I have presented modernized versions of some of my favorite cards.