The piece is one of the first from my 'Shields' series, painted in early 2015. An improvised diversity of shapes and colors come together in harmony while maintaining their distinct nature and functioning with a clear interdependence. This is possible for human beings as well and I like my paintings to subtly remind us of this.

At the core of my work, and exemplified here is an exploration of what Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh has called “Interbeing”. Although I don’t consider myself a buddhist, I was deeply and permanently moved by reading his books and staying at Plum Village in my early 20's.

“If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either.” – Thich Nhat Hanh in The Heart of Understanding

Like most of my titles, the word "Sublimination" came into my head after standing back and taking a first real look at the finished piece. These days, autocorrection can be quite powerful and as I fed the title into my computer while readying it for the exhibition "A Step Felt In Full" at Slow Culture Gallery / Feb. 2015, the title morphed in print and in my mind to "sublimation".

The word sublimation (I found out this evening) has a wide variety of meanings which range from "The transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas phase without passing through the intermediate liquid phase" to Jung's mystical definition - "Part of the royal art where the true gold is made..." Nietzsche said "Sublimations... in which the basic element seems almost evaporated and betrays its presence only to the keenest observation." Generally speaking "A mature type of defense mechanism where socially unacceptable impulses or idealizations are unconsciously transformed into socially acceptable actions or behavior." - So, in accord with the concept of Interbeing, the word sublimation has many different meanings within it...

Bottom Line: What I see in this piece is Peace.

--- 
This will ship rolled gently in a 4" diameter tube. If you would like it shipped flat, please purchase the print, then email me a request for flat shipping. mike@mikebiskup.com There will be a small additional charge depending on your location.

*There may be future editions of this print.

The original watercolor is framed on my wall at home.