I am retired physician and I am a self taught artist. I am also autistic, and I have been described as a savant, polymath, Renaissance man, or some say, genius. My universe changed forever when I diagnosed because I finally understood my disjointed life. Autistic / neurodivergent people typically can not read body language or faces. I often feel blind. So instead, I became the observer, and I make note of what I see as I watch people. The awkwardness is bewildering as my ego continual bruised. The irony is when I was practicing medicine, my patients felt I was the only doctor, who listened, who cared, and authentic doctor they ever met. What Irony! A classical ancient Greek mythological dilemma: to be given a gift from the "gods" that triggers catastrophe. Cassandra, Midas, and Icarus come to mind. In another way, it is the world of Franz Kafka, who once said (paraphrased). "I did not know life was a costume party, where everyone else is dressed up, and I showed my real self."
I rarely look people in the eye or rarely read body language well. What am I supposed to see? Anything?
My art is focused on human interactions, psychology and the inner self. I concentrate on the source material and I am able to paint intense emotion. Mythology is my muse and I find images to paint my figures. I am influenced by Joseph Campbell and his books, The Hero of a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth. The archetypes of the Hero, the Master / Teacher come to mind as the hero must go on the adventure to save themselves and others. The clothes, rituals, and social groupings change, but the story remains the same. Homo sapiens sapiens live by their biology: sexual conquest, lust for of power, and the accumulation of wealth. These needs are alive and well as described in any online newspaper, broadcaster, social media "influencer" or a town crier. But now, information can be sent across the universe in less than a second vs a town crier that can take days, weeks, months, years, or never.
Per Schopenhauer: "Someone who has talent can hit a target that no one can hit. A genius is someone who can hit a target that no one else can see!" I create works of art that strive to fulfill my thoughts, experiences, and the emotions expressed by others and my self. If my works of art truly are those created by a genius, so they are. One of my teachers, Sherry Camhy, of the Art Student League of NYC, quotes Harold Steed "When what can be taught is in perfect harmony with what can not be taught, is when a work of art can be made." That is my modus operandi.
