The work investigates notions of interior/exterior, boundaries, floor plans and landscape. Some work depicts the ambiguity of “infinite space;” framing it with colored sticks, evoking hard-edged, geometric abstraction that has become somewhat disheveled and rickety. In other paintings, the cartoon-like, wooden 2x4s, reference the rudimentary scaffolding of modernist stage design. They also function as a diagram of a mind during meditation.

Taking as a starting point, two images: First, the “The Gateless Barrier” (the title of a 13th century Chinese collection of zen koans). The image suggests either a barrier with no entry point or an open gate. Second, the image is a space to reflect on our own mental frames, filters, or personal narratives through which each of us views and interacts with the world.

This group of paintings attempts to literalize these two metaphors while mixing them with elements of modernist abstraction, both graphic and painterly.

2017

Jimbo Blachly

Jimbo Blachly