oil – 72×52 inches
This painting is revisits an idea I’ve explored before in a painting of the same title – Across the River Same. Both build on a thought from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus some 2,500 years ago, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
The subject matter comes from a conversation I had with myself about storage buildings. I was expressing my hatred for these blights on the landscape; evidence of a blatantly bloated culture. I also asked myself if perhaps the persistence of possessions offered something intangible. Beyond nostalgia, things are magic, allowing us to recover and relive. Our things are extensions of our own physicality and corporeal identity.
Sometimes a rug just ties the room together too.
By the way, I still hate these storage buildings.