This narrative sequence of paintings Two Voices uses a split screen composition for each painting. As a result, the viewer can watch two different narratives happening simultaneously; yet, a single idea propels the separate narratives toward a common goal and outcome. My paintings feature a woman and a man, with the woman occupying one half of the painting and the man the other. The split screen motif suggests that they are not in adjacent rooms, but perhaps are in separate buildings and places. They could be in distant lands that are in different time zones. They are separated physically but are connected psychologically through technology, and they are trying to connect physically through meeting each other.

Because I intend the division between the worlds to be more meaningful than a mere division created by a straight line or edge, I use a wave to separate both sides. The wave becomes more and more complicated in each painting. Each wave starts out flat but becomes three-dimensional; it changes into a spiral or spring. Each wave changes length from painting to painting. Not only do I want something more distinctive to create the splits but also I desire the wave to function conceptually.

I hope the wave reminds one of a telephone wire, cord, or sound wave. The wave functions as a measure or a barometer and indicates that the man and the woman are connected by common feelings, sentiments, emotions and desires although they could be separated by hundreds of miles. In the first painting of the sequence Asleep the wave is elongated and gentle. In this painting they are calm yet certain feelings are stirring for each other while still dreaming. In the next two paintings The Phone is Ringing, versions 1 and 2 the wave is regular, but more active, suggesting that they are anxiously anticipating the phone call. In the last painting Arriving I show the moment just before they meet; the wave in this scene is agitated, erratic and irregular, reflecting the nervousness of the meeting. Although the wave ultimately suggests that they are separated physically, it also insinuates that they are connected in certain ways: psychologically and in their desire to eventually meet each other. Consequently, the wave serves a dual and contradictory purpose: as a wry comment about how people can be connected and separated at the same time.

A chronology and brief explanation of each painting will help the viewer to understand the story and the sequence better. The story begins with the man and the woman still in bed in the painting Asleep. It seems they are thinking or dreaming-perhaps fantasizing, about each other. In Beauty and Splendor they are both up, and of course the first thing they do, even before dressing or having coffee, is check their e-mail. In the next scene, the two versions of the Phone is Ringing, he is making a mad dash to the phone and on the way he spills some coffee. The man has reached the phone in Talking and chats while he cleans up the spill. The conversation continues in Conversing, but he seems to be doing all of the talking. Hmmm shows post-conversational rumination. In separate places and spaces they slowly prepare to meet each other in Getting Ready, Mirror, Mirror, and Carpet. He departs from home in Leaving. They meet in Arriving, and I end the story here. I consider these twelve paintings my little book of hours where I have tried to knit the daily routines of peoples’ lives with their most fundamental concerns: all those things that people hope to find in their pursuit for happiness.

View the work from "Two Voices" here.