40” x 20”, oil on canvas

Donovan Collection at St. Michael’s College

The body, the senses

are leaves of the self.

The colours of the ground, golden with a grey-green, are taken from the leaves that fell from a neighbour’s yard. The tree was suffering from some disease and so its leaves had patches of mould on them. The red of the letters is taken from the stalk of a nearby plant.

I think that the self is like a plant, rooted in the soil, putting out its leaves, sustaining itself through the chlorophyll of the body and the senses.