Man Behind The Mask

Man Behind The Mask
(This painting carries the series title)
The Man Behind The Mask Series is an exploration into the need to symbolically represent, our selves to our selves. This need manifest itself in everything from flags , logos and emblems to the personal persona we present to others. This is an art we are extremely good at, and It is the creative process in it's rawest form, at the point of conception. This is how we project who we are, who we think we are, who we want to be, and who we pretend to be. Its how we define and mythologize our selves both as individuals and as part of a group, organization, nation, religion or political persuasion. More importantly it is evidence of our ability to think abstractly. From beyond the boundary of pre-history to this moment the process is at work, creating everything from civilization to inventing the entire body of human knowledge.
The point of my rant, and what I find most odd, is that we believe more in the things we create, than in our ability to create them. Which then means we become subject to our creations. This series began to developed back in the 1970's. The Idea of the series was not to hammer home some profound insight, but rather to simply explore the phenomenon. Although this painting carries the series title, it was not the first in the series. However, when I did this painting, I finally realized that l had a series in the works. You know , a train of thought that was developing as you take the journey.
(oil on canvas 1988)