Allen Vandever

I feel an artist’s body of work is his unwritten biography, archiving his progress in both craftsmanship and self-discovery, all the while capturing the most personal and essential moments in his life, and revealing his personal reflections.
In my painting, I feel free from the jumble of words all too limited in their ability to fully illustrate an image of my sensations and reflections. Painting is a way to bypass the filter of conscious analysis—bypassing the point where we attempt to name and catalog our responses, which often diminishes the true glory of the moment.
I am free to explore my dreams, very often so intensely alive that they continue to exist in my sight in the material world. I have yet to find the words capable of illustrating such glorious visions, so I paint them that I may relive them, and that I might apply a pinprick into the veil between our worlds allowing a speck of light to illuminate its existence to others. I aspire to reveal such worlds to my son, that the images from my journey inspire him to begin his own exploration, for a mere sliver of light is enough to bring the world gushing forth, demolishing the walls that confine our thoughts.
Although I fail to find the words to convey my passion, I cannot deny their role in my reflection, for words have allowed me to further explore the images I have been moved to create. For when I write, I am transported into the silent realm of the mind, where the voices of human reason and passion can be heard in intimate conversation, contemplating the infinite dimensions of being.