If you seek them out, and help them
along, there are places almost everywhere
we might call paradise… If people were openly honest
(avoiding all deception) and sincerely tried to do the right and ethical
things, we could
create a better society almost by magic.
A sense
of connection to the land-magic and cultures of central Mexico, and the
extended
southwest
colors my “New World” identity.
An endearment for animals has
led me toward the care of several cats and 2 herds of semi-wild
horses in the hills
above my rented cottage-home.
Landscapes which leave especially deep impressions, seem to create an interior existence for me,
a dream state reality. I have an intuitive faith in their hidden meanings…
like promised lands, alive with protective ancestor and animal spirit guides.
Despite brilliant technological
ingenuity, modern society offers many distractions.
Human consciousness is generally in a
dispirited state. The low aesthetic
profile in modern life
and the banal commercialism of public
spaces provide indication that art and social progress work
as partners. Leonardo personifies the “divine creator” of the “Christian era”
giving birth in turn to the
scientific age, starting with
observations in anatomy and
perspective, the telescope, microscope
to harmonize technology.
Biographical outline early: Childhood in Chicago/enchanted by mountain
range vistas in
Tucson and Denver-which became mental
icons and beacons for me/Began to paint in earnest
around age 16/$500 1st prize
in first attempt at a juried art exhibit (1972-age 17)
First few ascensions (of dozens later) into high country of Sierra
Nevada during
adolescence/Engaged in study of art
history through college and beyond/immersed in music
late blooming enthusiasm for modernistic artists,
especially late Picasso, mid-Bacon, late Guston, O’keefe, Tamayo, and Richard
Diebenkorn (who expressed facination for Herk’s drawings)