I begin my paintings by conceptualizing with the use of collage and pastel drawing combined to make preliminary sketches. This method allows me to explore the juxtaposition of diverse and unrelated images in order to allow new meaning to surface.

 

My paintings serve as a means to unify the images by saturation of color, to create the illusion of depth and movement by the use of the painting process. In a similar way that a theater stage conjures up the notion of a real place, the suggestive images in my paintings are meant to evoke a personal, imaginary place. Color, space and scale work together to heighten the sense of drama and mystery.

 

Through this duality of images side by side and floating in space, as mysterious, suggestive images, I want to create a resonance similar to the picture evoked by the Biblical phrase, “Through a glass darkly, but then face to face.”

 

– Dorothy Black