Sloat Shaw - Artist Statement

When I paint I step into the unknown, a place that feels both outside time and rich with the dreams and memories of the earth. I use meditation to enter this zone which allows the paint to flow on canvas without my conscious interference. I paint ancient myths and archetypal memories, bringing them into modern relevance and using them to illuminate the transformative chaos of the 21st century.

In order to paint the pulsing quality of the earth, I use chi gung and other energetic meditations to make visible an invisible landscape. To see more clearly, I am able to make a shift into synesthesia, a heightened, pulsating, tactile space, where each color has a different scent, and often a musical note as well.

I have been gaining tangible, experiential knowledge of how senses inform the brain, through travels to Tibet, India and conversations with the Dali Lama’s teacher Rinpoche Guge Gyabung Tulko.

Most recently, I have been exploring Tasting Paint: Expanding Creativity. In addition to an exhibition of my paintings, I lead visitors through a sensory map in order to heighten the creative experience, and document their responses to sensory stimulation using biofeedback monitors. See More Here.

Artists explore the world from a different part of the brain. Tasting Paint welcomes the viewer into the world of the artist and the creative process through sensory stimulation. By noticing what creativity feels like in your own body, the intangible and elusive become more visible and accessible.