The Phenomena of the Neumena

Gail Cooper

I show how the ways of knowing and seeing can be distorted and, instead, evoke a somatic response. Using low fidelity images as reference material, I mine photographic and filmic rifts to explore my own subtle shifts in perception from the mundane to the phenomenological. A single pixel and a single frame have little power on their own, but it is the synergy of their association that brings them to life. Both light and spirit behave in visceral ways and have the ability to communicate without words. My paintings are vessels for interpreting what I am unable to put into words. the defects that occur within the instability of light, and my processes in creating them can be rigorous and physically demanding. The softness of pastels and the slipperiness of oil invokes a blurriness that visually renders a shift in perception. My interest lies in the ethereal image that emerges from the convergence of these two methods.