around and around and around we spin,
with feet of lead and wings of tin
— Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

The Fool's Journey is a metaphor, used in the teaching of tarot, depicting key events on the path to enlightenment. Each of us is a Fool* on our journey through life, yet we often fail to recognize the import of smaller life events, or scenarios, that might hasten our spiritual and material growth. In such cases, we're burdened by our ignorance and destined to repeat the scenario until we figure it out.

The work that passes through me becomes visual reminders of these universal scenarios. It bubbles from the cosmic consciousness; that from which Gustave Dore's Inferno illustrations and William Blake's visions flowed.  It manifests as movement at the edge of my sight, or as a phrase-spinning hip hop DJ. The imagery comes in grainy texture, like a poorly received TV broadcast. It's as distorted as our century, as The Scream was in Munch's time, but with a grain of salt. Leo Rosten, American film noir screenwriter and humorist, said, “Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.” I think the cosmic consciousness is hip to that.

I don't always understand the work that comes, but I recognize the importance of recording and sharing it. Each piece contains a story with the ability to transmute lead for someone, bringing them one realization closer to their personal enlightenment. Knowing this makes me one happy little Fool.    


*Each of us begin our life journey as a Fool, and if we reach enlightenment, end a Fool as well.  To paraphrase a great teacher, unless we become like a child again we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. To paraphrase my favorite five year old, let it go, let it go.