Experiencing (2024)

These paintings are figurative and symbolic speculations of how an experience happens.

I take that an experience is a cascade of sensory perceptions, cognitions, emotions, and memories that eventually lead to behavioral actions and behaviours. External stimuli from the environment create internal processes in the brain. The mind interprets and remembers. Decisions are made how to act. How one comes to choose is many times outside one’s awareness of all cognitive and emotional processes in one's mind. The mind encodes a short-term experience and converts it into long term memory. One’s experiences contribute to ongoing learning and adaptation. 

The influence of the environment is the context in which an experience happens. However, one’s cultural background, personal histories, and preferences shape how an experience is interpreted.

These paintings  are figurative abstractions of how I perceive some men these days. I used bird images to characterize some men in our Western culture. Men's attitudes are indeed shaped by contemporary societal values as well as traditional norms.

I sense that some men are still displaying emotional suppression and that anger and aggression are taken as acceptable. However, many men regulate and consider their own and others' feelings.

Vulture men consume, devour, and demean others. Budgie men talk a lot and rarely show up. Rooster men show off with self-centered importance. These men are dressed in suits, but their attitudes are harmful, hurting, and simply unneeded.

These paintings  are abstractions of the human brain.  A neuron is the functional unit of the brain. Neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors are integral components of the brain's intricate communication systems. These networks play vital roles in regulating one's moods, cognitions, behaviours, and other physiological functions.

The balance and function of neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors are critical for maintaining optimal brain function and mental health. Understanding the complex interplay between neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors provides insights into the many networks operating in one's brain.

With these paintings I visualize the essential parts of the brain. How the brain makes mind is another landscape awaiting to explore in future paintings. The human mind is indeed THE area of human achievements, failures, possibilities, and diseases. How the human mind interacts within our culture, and vice versa, continues to intrigue me.