According to Gerhard Richter in The Daily Practice of Writing, "Every word, every line, every thought is prompted by the age we live in, with all its circumstances, its ties, its efforts, its past and present. It is impossible to act or think independently and arbitrarily." (11) He feels we can postulate the unknown with relative certainty, but can only bring it into visible reality by creating analogies.
When I paint, I trust intuition. Much of the time I place one swipe of color on the canvas followed by another, another, and another until I feel the need to step back and survey what has appeared. Is there a form? Is the color pleasing? And what about the line? Can I relate the painting to anything in my world or in the external world? Often the images come from a historical time, a place I have visited, or from a space which I cannot identity. I started "Bridging the Gap" as a way of using up paints on my palette, paints which had been used for a medieval theme painting. No concept of where I was going, just thinking that the colors might provide a base for a new painting on the next day.
When I stepped back, I could see only one thing: two Native American dancers communicating through outstretched arms. A few more dabs of color and still the image remained. There was something about it demanding to exist. There was no way that I could paint over the colors on the canvas. The title for the painting came just as easily from somewhere in my psyche.
I apply Richter’s thoughts to this painting. The visual images are an analogy for cultures trying to find ways to communicate with one another in order to bridge the ever widening cultural gap which has created such havoc in the world. Maybe the way to bridge the gap is through communication in nonverbal ways such as the visual arts and dance. I can still hear the beat of the drums as I sat with a group of Native Americans, Hispanics, and Anglos in a drumming circle in Taos, New Mexico. Each of us in turn drummed the beat as our Native American leader chanted. I did not understand the Tewa language, but I did feel the primeval connection of humanity with the earth as the drum surged through my body vibrating the heart cavity. The drumming did more than words could ever say–it brought a kind of cultural and personal cohesiveness so much needed in our approach to the rest of the world. It was a way of bridging the gap.
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