Winged Way

My work has several strands that weave together, informing, reflecting, and expanding on one another. Essentially, I have a material practice, and a philosophical/conceptual practice, and spiritual practice.  My company, Winged Way, was incorporated (literally: ‘given bodily form’) on 8/8/08 in order to create a single container for my artistic, conceptual, and spiritual practices.

The material practice takes the form of sculptural paintings, and of wordsongs. The paintings are informed most strongly by Byzantine, Classical Chinese, and Modern traditions. In this context I am interested in effective material re-presentation of the parts of our human experience that are immaterial. The wordsongs are informed by bardic, haiku, and gospel traditions. (Listen to “Down Down,” a wordsong.) I am interested in the potential for sound and meaning to create transformative experiences.

The philosophical/conceptual practice addresses the ways that meaning and value come into being. It takes the form of participatory performances like Transmutation, the Auction, and the Gift Network. My conceptual practice explores the complex dance of community and individual narratives that invest objects, words, and experiences with meaning and value.

The spiritual practice in-forms the other two. My art attempts to embody and transmit immaterial human experience. I study and practice and teach Classical Shamanic Qigong, a Daoist tradition of Inner Alchemy, under Master Zhongxian Wu.