Things you can't catch.

Collage and epoxy resin on canvas.

When a butterfly lands on your shoulder, you may want to hold it. You can’t. Don’t move. Breathe slow, and maybe it will rest a while.  

We want to imprison the moment. 

 

We are hunters, seeking prey. We want the meat, and in obtaining it, we lose the wildness of the animal.

 

(Have you ever caught a fish? I don’t want to play catch with you. You can’t catch a break. Can I catch a ride with you? We need to catch up. I can’t catch my breath. Watch out! You’re too close to the flames – your clothes might catch fire.)

 

We want to capture reality, to confirm the feeling. The language is violent – Capture. Pin. It chokes.

 

Display behavior is a set of rituals that enable an animal to communicate. The peacock spreads its iridescent tail to woo its mate. The rat’s hair stands up on end and it rattles its tail to defend its territory. 

 

We make a show of love, displaying a hint of elbow. A cross-section of a lovely back. And then, lovers in one another’s arms, a full-throated shout into the world: We have chosen one another. We make spectacles of ourselves.