The Universe Series
A Divine Intervention in the Galaxy
Original works by Sarazen Brooks
I am moved by the ever evolving expanding and transcendental nature of the Universe. It is a puzzling matrix that my mind never wishes to fully solve. I am enchanted by the complexity, scope, and magnitude of the Universe. Nothing else has ever captured my attention quite like studying this unbelievable phenomena around us, existing everywhere. There are not many moments that go by when the Universe is far from my thoughts.
Because I am painting the Universe in an infinite amount of ways possible, the process in which I am approaching this series is ever evolving and ever changing just like the Universe itself. There is no stopping there is no stagnation, there is just forward momentum towards a new point in creation or singularity. I don’t ever think I will feel a moment where I feel truly done, where I truly have completion.
Because I am painting the Universe in an infinite amount of ways possible, the process in which I am approaching this series is ever evolving and ever changing just like the Universe itself. There is no stopping there is no stagnation, there is just forward momentum towards a new point in creation or singularity. I don’t ever think I will feel a moment where I feel truly done, where I truly have completion.
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One could say it was the plan for my life, just in the same respect that I did not choose a path to become an artist the path chose me, and there was no getting off this path. So one could also say that my soul also created this path.
I continue to paint the Universe because there is a force greater than me compelling me to. I am not able to stop painting the Universe. I am utterly infatuated with it to the degree that it is a very romantic, passionate relationship we share. And really the only moments during my life where everything feels completely normal and at peace is while I am painting a beautiful galaxy, |
watching the stars unfold before my eyes. It fills me with sights, feelings and senses that are so familiar, yet so esoteric. I am compelled to keep doing this by a force that is so much stronger than me I could not stop if I wanted to. It is a beautiful magnificent experience and I never want it to stop.
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I have tried many times to stop painting, especially the Universe. Especially during times of hardships and great adversity that I’ve faced when I was feeling particularly demotivated. Yet I am still driven to create. Nothing else appeals to me. To do anything else either as a profession or for fun does not appeal to me. I don’t have many other hobbies because the Universe is so mesmerising to me that to do anything else only makes me think of the Universe more. It is my love, my joy, my #1 thrill in life. I continue to create more of them, because every time I finish one I am filled with a great void and a sense of loss and it is not filled until I begin to embark on a new one, only then life can resume as normal.
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Points of Reference
Original works Lesha Koop
As a kid, the pufferfish, from the Diodontidae family, was one of the coolest creatures in my world. I have always had a soft spot for spiky forms.
When thinking of Nature's spiny forms, what comes to mind? Rose thorns, cactus spines, chestnuts' pointed shells? Stegosauruses, sea urchins, pangolins or horned lizards? Nature has come up with many ways of saying “Back off!” or “I'm hitching a ride!”
Think of having to pull burrs out of your hair after playing in a summer meadow. Trees and plants often grow seeds with spikes
When thinking of Nature's spiny forms, what comes to mind? Rose thorns, cactus spines, chestnuts' pointed shells? Stegosauruses, sea urchins, pangolins or horned lizards? Nature has come up with many ways of saying “Back off!” or “I'm hitching a ride!”
Think of having to pull burrs out of your hair after playing in a summer meadow. Trees and plants often grow seeds with spikes
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and hooks. Carrot seeds have rows of tiny hooks on their outer shells. Tribulus terrestris, also known as devil's weed, has spiked seeds that can puncture bicycle tires (tribulus originally meant caltrop in Latin, referring to both the weapon and the plant). The durian is a large fruit with a tough, pointed husk from southeast Asia. Its name derives from duri, the Malay-Indonesian word for spike.
Various nudibranch (sea slug) species have brightly coloured flagella on their bodies they use to store poisons from their toxic lunches. Porcupines have barbs on the ends of their quills which carry bacteria that infect their unfortunate victims. Prongs also display prowess and prominence. Male deer, elk and other ungulates grow antlers or horns that gain more tines or rings each year. Male rhinoceros beetles have large horned facial carapaces, similar to rhinoceros horns. After all, ya gotta fight and impress the ladies of your species! I hope these sculptures ensnare the viewer with their references to natural phenomena. These geometric forms have been inspired by one of nature's favourite tricks for protection, supremacy and propagation. |
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