1986 - 1990      Abstract Elements and Studying Tai Chi and Taoism



A return to abstraction, expanding the subject matter, a new interest in Tai Chi practice and Taoist thought---all of this influenced the next body of work.  References to the earth, in the form of Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Map of the World, became part of the imagery.  An experiment with spacial structure took the form of a linear, warped, intersecting grid, that spread over the surface of the pieces.  (This grid-structure was not unrelated to the invented floor patterns  that had evolved in the previous figurative work).  There was sometimes an interplay of abstraction with representational elements.


Later, the vessel image emerged as a metaphor for the Tao, and "oneness".



Dreaming the Patterns of the Universe,    1986

acrylic on canvas,    72 x 96 inches

The Earth and the Moon,    1986

acrylic on canvas,    89 3/4  x  70 1/4 inches

Cycles,    1987

acrylic on canvas,    88  x  65 3/8 inches

Ancient Shape and Cycles of Energy,    1987

acrylic on canvas,    73 1/2  x  66 1/4 inches

Moment  (4 panels),    1987

acrylic on canvas,    64 inches x 19 feet

Moment  (detail in first panel)

Moment  (detail in second panel)

Moment  (detail in fourth panel)

Coming Together, Rending Apart     1987

acrylic on canvas,    68 3/4  x  87 1/2 inches

Wave Hands Like Clouds,    1988

acrylic on canvas,   88 x 68 1/2 inches

Vessel Series 1,   1988

acrylic on paper,    40 x 26 inches

Dark Vessel,    1988

acrylic on canvas,   23 3/4  x  19 inches

Empty Vessel:  Myriad Activity,    1988

acrylic on canvas,    27 1/4  x  28 1/2 inches

Hollow Vessel:  Blue Nebulous,    1988

acrylic on canvas with painted frame

13 3/4  x  11 3/4 inches 

Hollow Vessel: Through Time    1989

acrylic on canvas with painted frame

21  x  14 1/4 inches

Empty Vessel: Full Spectrum,    1989

acrylic on canvas with painted frame

18 1/2  x  15 1/2 inches

Hollow Vessel: Turning    1989

acrylic on canvas,    50  x  56 inches

Sustenance,    1989

acrylic on canvas,    42 1/8  x  37 7/8 inches

Parting Oneness: Hover/Flow,    1989

acrylic on canvas,    49 1/2  x  46 1/2 inches

.....the Tao Endures Silently,    1990

acrylic on canvas,    46 7/8  x  31 1/2 inches