Lael Burns ART Habens my work that I think results from the process of translating deep spiritual realities and experiences into tangible, visual art objects. I guess its a line I enjoy riding that helps in establishing a sense of dichotomy that is a foundational aspect of my work. At the age of 12 I started really exploring visual art as a means of survival and expression amid dark family circumstances. I remember being so taken by the painterly indulgences of abstract expressionism with artist like DeKooning while finding myself also very intrigued with my own therapeutic, precise pencil renderings of the magnolia buds and other organic matter that covered my front yard growing up. I was also influenced early on strongly by Chong Chu and Jon Millet, two of my art instructors during high school, both practicing artists who’ s work pulls from both representation and abstraction in terms of figure / ground relationships and rich, symbolic imagery. When I was in college I was introduced to the detailed biological illustrations of Ernst Haeckel and the lush organic paintings of Terry Winters. Although my influences have of course expanded over the years, its this dance between representation and abstraction that I was so intrigued with early on that still drives many of the formal aesthetics my work.
How does one actually describe, for example, the experience of faith, repentance, or rebirth in a visually concrete way? Since I’ m not interested in making illustrations about religious concepts but rather maps and documents of my actual experiences and revelations, I often utilize the gap between representation and abstraction as the rich open metaphorical space and potential I need in order to convey such personally potent such matter in a meaningful way. In Patterned Root, we see a delicate root hovering vulnerably in an soft, safe space, nest possibly intruding yellow flames. The root figure is mostly encapsulated in a soothing blue covering that is simultaneously both fire and water. The patterned flame that partially covers the root is a picture of embrace, beauty, and adornment. There is a balance between obsessively planned details and intuitively discovered relationships. In Undone, there is a delicate organic form surrounded by layers of sugary sweet watercolor,
21 473 Special Issue