Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus

QUESTION 2.    The metallic and pearlescent pigments you layer over dark grounds create a sense of inner illumination. What does “light” symbolize for you when it appears from within the darkness of your compositions?

• ANSWER 2.    I have explored the Light and Dark deeply in this Lifetime in many ways. This has taken me to a place where I recognize that it is in the Union of Light and Dark that Wholeness lies, not in any triumph of one over the other.

John Stokes
Painter

MEDIUM: pearlescent and metallic acrylics, acrylics

BIO: My Artwork is a crystallization of that Presence which I find arising in me moment by moment. I don't see it as an illustration of that but instead I feel it as a coherent, confident flow that comes from an intelligence beyond my ordinary mind. My task, as I see it, is not to interfere with that natural process and simply allow it to flow and pulsate through me. I have worked with Plant Medicines to explores states in Consciousness and it is these states that In-Form the patterns that come through me.

EMAIL: bluelightofdawn@gmail.com

QUESTION 3.    Your works often feel like portals—alive with symbols, energies, and microscopic patterns. When you’re deep in the process, how do these recurring forms reveal themselves to you?

• ANSWER 3.     I feel that the Pulsations that I express correspond to Nature's flow at different Scales. It is humbling to concentrate on small details only to find a sense of vast spaces opening up. At times I have felt that spaces are opening that were never open before. I'm not sure what that means precisely but the experience is very strong and very affirming. I hope that the spaces can draw the viewer into deeper states of Consciousness. I see them as Liminal, Thresholds on our Unconscious where we can allow Meaning to configure.

QUESTION 1.    Working in a space where intuition reigns, how do you recognize the moment when a painting has become a fully realized “portal” rather than just a beautiful composition? (Explores what defines completion in deeply spiritual, process-driven art.) 

• ANSWER 1.     Once the Flow of a piece starts up I usually follow it until it ebbs. I don't interfere in what I perceive to be a very natural flowstate. At the end I will leave it for some time and revisit to feel into what is lacking. I often work by putting down very incoherent forms and then, from there, navigating towards a point where I feel the Balance.

Portal 2

Portal 3

Portal 1

All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by John Stokes.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.

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