Charles John Lyons IV

Every Artist should have a purpose. It should be a burning desire to express something to the veiwer. Really good artwork moves the veiwer and tells a story. Its the responsibilty of the Artist to translate their thoughts into art but the best artist make the viewer use their imagination too. There is a Latin phrase Ars Celare Artem which translates to “Art (is) to Conceal Art.” This phrase is a wonderful way to describe my personal artistic style. The goal is for the viewer to find something new every time they look at the artwork. Like a Rorschach inkblot test, the viewer can discover something about themselves as they discover the words and images hidden within the sea of shapes and lines. Even a naive child can look at a cloud in the sky and imagine they see a shape in the cloud of something else. Growing from a child into an adult teaches that the world isn’t what it seems and everything is not black and white, even if its made to look that way. There is a gray area and reading between the lines has become a language of its own. The artist has his story to tell and if he tells it correctly, the viewer will get lost in it and connect to the artwork in a personal way. By hiding words and images within the chaos of abstract shapes and forms creates an illusion for the mind. It is the perfect mix of Surrealism and Abstraction. It is a subliminal camouflage that hypnotizes the viewer in a way that the image becomes permanently attached to the viewer’s memory. Only then does the painting full fill its true purpose and tells the tale to be told. The best way to see things is with a fresh eye. Forget whatever you know and start again from the absurd because the eyes are fooled by what they see and the only way to see is to open the mind. Nietzsche once wrote, “If you gaze long into an Abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”