Deep Dhillon - Visual Artist

Kids on Scooter - 36"x48" Painting

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

I finally finished a painting that's been floating around the studio for a couple years in a nearly done state. It always felt pretty near complete, but I never quite knew what to do with it. Then, the other day, while digging through some shelves, I stumbled across a bunch of charcoal.

Charcoal has always been one of my favorite drawing tools, but I'd never thought to use it on paintings, at least not in a late stage. It turns out it works out quite nice, especially on this door skin surface. The only downside is sealing up the charcoal once done. It still reeks of Aquanet in the studio. At least something good came of the big hair eighties - the best coal sealant (and bike handle bar grip stabilizer) ever.

More Ink, Wax and Paint

2011-10-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

12"x14" mixed media on canvas.

Title: Cheap de Kooning Knock Off

9"x11" mixed media on paper.

Ink on Paper

2011-07-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

All drawings below are in ink, pastel and charcoal on 11"x14" paper. I've been a little late posting these, but they were all done in the first month or so when I returned from the big trip back in the late fall of 2010.

This first sketch is from a great scene in Madrid during the Sunday markets. We were wandering through throngs of folks when I looked up and saw two brilliantly dressed mannequins dancing for us market goers.

I can't remember for sure where this one is from, but I think it's from Lyon. We ended up spending a wonderful week here while failing repeatedly to get a train to Italy. Warning: don't have an agenda while traveling in Europe in August. It is much more fun to have your plans tossed out by striking French train workers.

Drawn from a photo shot by my daughter Ananya, the missing family member in this shot out front of Notre Dame in Paris.

A beautiful mundir on route to Manali in Himachal Pradesh in northern India.

Super loaded truck, one of millions, chugging along the Himalayan roads of Himachal Pradesh.

On route to lunch in Preixan in southern France. I must have spent 10 minutes staring at this stunning bottle of olive oil.

I think this one is from San Sebastion in Spain - what an amazingly beautiful city.

Munshi Ram's hot pink meets Euro-ville.

Moving on to Canvas

2010-05-17T02:40:00.000-07:00

Things move at a very gingerly pace these days. Perhaps its the heat. Perhaps its the temporal haze after 4 and a half months of traveling. In any event, we managed to secure a table to paint on after only 5 weeks. Well it is not actually a table, technically we are painting on a bed, but it is wooden, large enough to hold a good sized canvas, and it came for a decent price.

The 5 weeks were well spent. I got to learn how to read and write Punjabi. These words in blue are my first free flowing stream of conscience style writing in Punjabi.

Yes its true, I haven't been to a barber in 9 months, nor have I shaved since December. Its also true that I paint outside, in India, in the peak of summer. Though mostly in the early morning, and late evening, when the sun hasn't yet hit our 3rd floor veranda.

I really love that hot pink India ink. I swing by Munshi Ram, the best art store in Chandigarh, about once a night asking for another bottle of pink. Every night the woman kindly informs me that it is not pink, but red. I smile, convinced that I have enough, and will not be back tomorrow.

I Love Ink

2010-05-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

All sketches below are snapshots taken from a 9"x 11" sketchbook while in Chandigarh. The media includes water soluble pencil, ink and acrylic.

Sketches from Punjab

2010-04-26T05:28:00.001-07:00

All sketches below are snapshots taken from a 9"x 11" sketchbook. The media includes water soluble pencil, ink and acrylic.

Photograph - Parque de Fabrero - Buenos Aires

2010-02-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Photograph - Colonia, Uruguay

2010-02-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

Photograph - Colonia, Uruguay

2010-02-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Photograph - Parque de Fabrero - Buenos Aires

2010-02-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

Bicycle Vendor in Parque de Fabrero

2010-02-19T14:45:00.000-08:00

Mixed Media on Paper - 11"x14"

Photograph - Light Tower - Colonia, Uruguay

2010-02-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

Goose Crossing in Parque de Fabrero

2010-02-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

Mixed Media on Paper - 11"x14"

Photograph - Light Tower - Colonia, Uruguay

2010-02-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Photograph - Colonia, Uruguay

2010-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

Lamps and Bench in Parque de Fabrero

2010-02-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

Mixed Media on Paper - 11"x14"

Photograph - Colonia, Uruguay

2010-02-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Half-Pipe in Buenos Aires

2010-02-12T14:37:00.001-08:00

Mixed Media on Paper - 11"x14"

Photograph - Flower Vendor - Buenos Aires

2010-02-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

Photograph - River Delta, Argentina

2010-02-05T05:02:00.000-08:00

Photograph - Tigre, Argentina

2010-02-01T05:07:00.000-08:00

Photograph - Tango Dancers - Buenos Aires

2010-01-30T05:13:00.000-08:00

More Sketches from Buenos Aires

2010-01-29T16:25:00.000-08:00

Photograph - River Delta, Argentina

2010-01-29T04:58:00.000-08:00

Sketches from Buenos Aires

2010-01-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

A Day at the Malba

2010-01-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great day wandering through the Malba museum in Buenos Aires. It's been pretty hot and humid here, so just getting into some cold air conditioning for a few hours calms the kids down. Unfortunately, the main show was Andy Warhol, perhaps my least favorite artist of all time , but I did run across a few very interesting Argentine painters whose work I had never seen. I also got a kick out of the benches (not on exhibit, there to sit on); the Malba has these wooden benches where some of the wood planks shoot out of the benches morphing from the rigid expected lines of a bench into organic curves flowing around corners, up and down walls.

Romulo Maccio

Ernesto Deira

Alberto Greco

Sand Animation by Kseniya Simonova

2009-10-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

Finished a Couple Paintings Today

2009-05-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Brother and Sister with Sunflowers - Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 24"

Detail

Detail

Large image HERE.

Door with Figures on Yellow - Acrylic on Canvas - 24" x 36"

Detail

Detail

Large image HERE.

2008 Paintings and Drawings

2008-12-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

At the Beach - Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 36"

Gurdwara Street Scene - Charcoal and Pastel on Paper - 24" x 18" - Detail

Gurdwara at Night - Acrylic and Ink on Wood - 12" x 12"

Biji's in the Pind - Acrylic and Ink on Paper - 12" x 14"

Bamboo Pots - Acrylic and Ink on Paper - 12" x 14" - Detail

Inside the Studio in Orange - Pencil and Ink on Paper - 12" x 14"

Ted Fullerton: Great Show at Foster/White

2008-09-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ran across a great show of Ted Fullerton at the Foster White gallery. I especially like some of his paintings -- large calm washes contrasted w/ tight almost violent textures. I'm never a fan of intentionally inserted symbolism, but his technique impressed me. I also really like his sparing use of color. As always, these don't photograph well, but here are some snaps anyway.

A Few Hours of Sun and Snow in Ballard

2008-03-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

New Show at the 7 Roasters Cafe

2007-09-16T18:33:00.002-07:00

Nayan and I hung my show at the 7 Roasters Cafe on the first of the month. I was quite happy with how well and quickly the hanging went. Nayan, my 5 year old son, is such a great little helper. When you're balancing with a 20 pound painting on 1 foot on top of a couch, its great to have little hands hand you the hammer or a much needed nail. Unfortunately, I forgot to shoot photos of the show, but I've included some images of my newer paintings here. If you're interested in checking out the work, it will be hanging until the end of the month; 7 Roasters is located at: 153 N 78th St Seattle, WA 98127.

Studio in Orange and Blue - Acrylic on wood - 12" x 12"

Leaning Flower in Red - Acrylic on Wood - 12" x 12"

The Backyard Swing - Acrylic on Wood - 12" x 12"

Studio in Rough Orange - Acrylic on Wood - 12" x 12"

Art, Food and Fun at the Neighborhood Cafe

2007-06-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

Last night we celebrated the opening of my current show at the Neighborhood Cafe in Ballard. As always, Hadija provided an amazing spread of food, and the people were fantastic. Its such a treat to meet old friends and make new ones all in the context of art.

There are few occasions when I get a chance to get into so many art conversations with artists and art lovers. Last night, I was chatting with one of my favorite local artists. She was telling me how she has started painting over some paintings from an older series of hers. I was heart broken. This is the series of her work I love the most. I even offered to show up with blank canvases of the same dimension the next time she gets the urge. She laughed. Afterward, she wanted to see some of my work. Of course the first 3 paintings I showed her were paintings on top of old paintings of mine. Well it seems this is something we painters like to do. We get bored of some old paintings, new canvases cost a bunch and require effort, and old work often makes for a fantastic starting point.

I posted a few photos in this post, but if you are interested, you can view the full slide show of photos from last night HERE. In case you missed the opening, the show is up until the end of the month.

Show at the Neighborhood Cafe

2007-06-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

I have a show which includes many recent paintings that is hanging at the Neighborhood Cafe. The opening reception will be held on Sunday, June 17th at 7PM. Hadija, the owner, is a terrific cook and she usually provides quite a spread of wonderful food.

Please mark it on your calendars and I look forward to seeing you all there.

The Neighborhood Cafe is located at: 1418 NW 70th St in Ballard. A map and other information is available HERE.

Andrew Goldsworthy - Rivers and Tides

2007-05-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

I ran across this interesting video clip of Andrew Goldsworthy talking about his work. The clip is from the movie about him: Rivers and Tides which I really need to check out.

Crashing Tomatoes in Dreamland

2007-03-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Last night I had a dream where a friend of mine was curating a "big" art show at the local grocery store. I thought it was a rather strange place to have an art show, but agreed to show my work. My friend hung the show. I went to go see how the paintings were hung.

One of my paintings was hung above the tomatoes in the vegetable section of the grocery store. My friend said the painting looked funny above the tomatoes, so he went ahead and "fixed" the problem by re-framing the piece as shown to the left here. He also decided the painting would look better with a few red tomatoes on it. He went ahead and painted them in. I was aghast, and couldn't figure out why he'd done it. I started to get really angry, and he said he didn't really understand what the big deal was.

At that moment, a large semi truck full of paintings arrived. The truck was up on a 25 foot ledge above us. A man slid open the rear door on the semi and asked where the paintings should be placed. My friend shouted to the man to just throw them off the ledge into a pile. I started to protest, but the paintings started falling and crashing onto the floor. Some of the paintings were very large, and on hitting the concrete floor exploded into many pieces. Many of the paintings being thrown off were my friends. I started screaming at him, "you're so disprespectful of art. What the heck's wrong with you?" He just laughed and said, "They're just paintings. What's the big deal?"

Painting Under Construction from Nana Devi

2007-02-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

I had a good burst of activity on this painting and now it is sitting in the very popular "almost completed" stage. This painting is based on some photographs shot when we were in Nana Devi up in the Himalayan foot hills at a little chai stand. Nayan had just turned one. It was a really lovely day, and we were on our way up to my favorite Mundir.

Painting from Alchemista in Zipolite

2007-02-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

I recently started a painting based on some photos from one of our hang out spots in Zipolite, Oaxaca. Nayan and Ananya had a blast playing on the swings every evening. This piece is still under construction, but its in a fun state right now so I thought I'd share it.

Cedar

2007-02-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Sad sky, thick with tears.
Full moon drops into still water
ripples against resting logs,
white spray coats the shore.

Between my arms, through
my knees, I look down and
see my chain flowing.
Under my wheels --
whispering moss, soft
sponges, crackling branches.

Trail fades till fallen old-growth,
ten feet wide, hundreds long, few
weeks down, split in half.

End of the ride, I climb
inside, cedar scents, hiding in
your belly, sprouting ferns,
lying in my new bed, thirsty,
mouth open, drinking mist.

The Fall

2007-02-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

Lights beam, pierce through dark night.
Snowflakes float, then fall.

Driving to baker with my roommate,
missed the exit, too busy babbling,
tires slipped, lost control, tried to
downshift, too late, car smashed
through the guard rail, we were
falling to our deaths.

Heard the Kodo drum banging,
900 pounds of tree. In blur.

While falling
I pressed my forehead
against the window,
peered out, down
to the ground. Saw
the shivering ocean
nestled under a
white blanket.

He turned toward me and said,
"I'm not afraid of death,
I've already cleaned the kitchen."

I said, "I'm not ready, my
sister's coming to visit and I
don't think my mom could go
on, she just lost her brother."

Motion

2007-02-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

I was at a party last night and got into an interesting conversation about philosophy and art and poetry. I realized how much I miss writing and thinking about poems. I started digging around for some old poems of mine and realized that so many of them have been lost between many of my disk crashes and moves over the years. Anyway, here is a poem I wrote back in 1994 when I was immersed in graduate school in Wisconsin. This poem was originally published in a journal called bloo published by the Illinois Institute of Technology Department of Humanities. I've had to adapt it slightly to fit this web display.

Motion

I.

Sweet sounds wheel forth
resonance and night fall
feel freedom
tripping over language and hearts
beat soft incandescent whispers
frail voices touching.

The breath of your waves
and the beats of your message
post rhythms
of a clear blue lake nestled in
scenic landscape
fields of orange
leaves
crisp vibrant solar beams
drinking sandal wood
forward and ascend
smell fear shrooming
nuclear pasts.

Contemplate the thrill of
a new journey hand in hand with a
kaleidoscope ocean singing
green tropical forests
on a peak high
pointing toward a joint
vision of handrails and footsteps
exploding.

II.

Inflating wheels sway
filling and releasing
air loads of motion
exchange persian whispers
store warm
inductive dances
tabulate slated rituals
point
motional transience
control stiffness back
arc paths bathe brilliance
wrapping flat orange ribbons
folding
finding your feelings resting
calmly, serenely
in pattern locations
cardioid radiation patterns
dot new nights
of sunshine in open
grass phase
fields progression
sounds of
art and pitch
mobilizing.

III.

The mapping from solid to liquid can be
described by a piece moving on a sandalwood
chess board. First the piece is picked up, then it
is relocated to another square. This process
involves rigid stiff gearlike feedback control -
calculating, carefully, repetitiously perfecting
his chops, the jazz drummer drums perfectly.
Neurons remember ascii and process floating
point options, like an algorithm reciting victory
non-dynamically programming commands of
piece for piece 1) if ahead, make the trade 2)
bishop and knight hold equal weight 3) queens
gambit opening, go to memory response.
Think about the possible excitement, 3 frames
per second video of blue lakes located
physically, geographically in the mountains, as
slope increases the frictional force required to
maintain static equilibrium increases; a blob of
Jell-O, on the other hand, coaxed to the edge of
a table balances on the edge dripping wiggling
vibrating falling

IV.

crash
king side pieces marble smooth
weighted for motion
sensations tactile to touch
deep lungs fill
arms moving fluid like
water from a hose down black
tar driveways
controlling hydraulic
action ballistic momentum
glides oil
flowing forward feeling dry glass pieces of
chess find new homes on silk
boards tilting like a square block
sliding down an iced plane
drums jazzing rhythms
chop
chopping
top toms
popping

V.

A block slides down a plane.
A solid wood block slides down a steel sheet of metal plane.
A solid block of jello sticks,
stopped,
stuck on a slide,
wiggling, wriggling
melting in the sun
dripping
drops
burgundy
flowing
silently
slowly slide
rivulets form
streams
stream
down slides
sliding and melting
jello falls liquid
flowing clear
panes of water
falling.

VI.

Playing pool in a hall on a table with no holes
for motion not money like hang gliding or chess
without clocks on a wet dry journey no ticking
through solid to liquid matter transformations
on a steep flat slope motivated by gravity
force affecting velocities of motion like an
increase in viscosity approaches solidity therefore
thereby increasing frictional forces or the forces
of friction causing the descent downward,
investigated by boundary analysis methods,
finitely sublimate or continuously yielding a
locust bean gum like property which when
concentrations increase of powder to water from
liquid to solid like drums to jazz or square on
flow down slopes to pools of jello to tea

VII.

Sticks slide crack balls
pool hall
smooth
soft whispers say
fluid
like rolling hills and a
thick milkshake
smoothie.

Surdar and Boy on Motorcycle in Sukharan

2007-01-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

I recently completed the painting below. This piece has been under construction for an incredibly long time. I started it back in November of 2005 when we were in Punjab. Around January 2006, I was convinced it was done. I spent 8 months trying to convince myself it was done. Still, it didn't sit right, so I ended up tanking virtually everything except the background building just above the main figure. Then I altered the composition and added the figures and motorcycle. Around May of the 2006, I thought I was almost done. Then it just kept inching along; some details here, a little color there, a bit more light, a little less, and on and on. Ultimately, I consider a painting done if 2 months have passed and I still don't want to change anything. I'm only on week 6, so only the next 2 weeks will tell!

Acrylic and Pastel on Canvas - 28"x52"

The Quest for Subject Matter in Zipolite, Oaxaca

2006-12-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

We've been here in Zipolite, Oaxaca, for the past week or so, basking, or perhaps more accurately put, melting, in the sun as the wet cold engulfs our beloved Seattle home. Avoiding the cold has backfired a bit into an exercise of reverse avoidance, that is, avoidance of heat, rather than cold. Nonetheless, the worst case scenario is I simply get so fed up of the heat and bugs, that on returning home, the familiar wet cold will be perfectly lovely. In any event, you can read all about our trip on my personal blog at chalobolo.blogspot.com. This is where I write about art, and unfortunately, right now, there isn't a lot.

We sort of slacked off in packing supplies, bringing only the most basic of items. In part, this was due to the blur of activity that led us to the airport, and in part it was because we assumed we'd be able to dig up some local materials, which we are usually able to, but here, this has proven a more difficult task. In addition, it seems our little one, Ananya, has gotten much larger, and more importantly, faster, since our last art/trip. We're staying at a place which is not exactly a toddler sanctuary - lots of rock drops, few guard rails, no closed walls in our cabin, etc, which means Ameen and I spend a fair amount of time simply helping Ananya avoid collisions. We did manage to find a local village girl who will serve in the collision avoidance role so that should free up some time.

In any event, there is much to look at here, and be inspired by. It is called a jungle desert, and they've just come off the rainy season, which means it is very lush. While the greenery is visually stunning, the colors are even more so. Lots of exotic flowers in bloom, crazy colored birds, gigantic black lizards, and of course, bugs galore. I've been snapping a fair amount of pictures on a hunt for subject matter; there's a lot to capture: ram shackle huts, trucks hauling crowds of people, bright clothing, flowers, shattered Italian mosaics, the list goes on. I tend to paint from assemblages of photos, atleast for my more representational work, so it is always nice to have stacks of photos and sketches to work from when I get back into the studio.

Show at Glow Natural Health Center

2006-10-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I hung a show at Glow Natural Health Center. I hung about 15 of my recent paintings. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera along so I could shoot some photos for you all. Anyway, its always exciting for me to see work hanging in a new place, especially a space with great lighting. What was particularly cool, is my friend Lindsie, who's acupuncture practice is there, ordered this very excellent wire-art-hanging system. It took me less than 45 minutes to hang the whole show, a process that usually takes a couple hours of hammering, wall destruction, and tense hair pulling. Because of these cute little efficient German made hooks that slide up and down picture wire, I was able to quickly adjust height, and hang, in an uncharacteristically calm, Zen-like fashion. I'd buy them for our house if it wasn't for the 100$ per hook price!

On the Tractor in Mohalon

2006-10-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

I recently finished this painting called On the Tractor in Mohalon. Its based on some photos I took last December in Punjab on our farm. My nieces from California and Nayan were running wild on the farm. I was busy giving scooter rides and coaxing the kids into posing for photos I knew I'd painting in the not so distant future. It was a glorious sunny day with bright yellow mustard fields in full bloom. HERE's a mini slide show of the painting with some detail shots.

Open Studio

2006-10-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

we celebrated the opening of our painting studio this past saturday with a grand turnout. it was such a great evening w/ friends and family and music and wine, a cozy fire, and of course, lovely embience in the new building. it was such a treat to poke my head into the loft and see a group of friends sprawled out and relaxed, chatting without a care in the world. i realized we were successful in creating a truly inspiring building. i often got asked during the party when we started, how long it took, etc. well i started drawing concept sketches in earnest in january of 2003. we broke ground in october of 2004, and while still not done, we were done enough to throw a party april of 2006. what i'm just now getting used to, is the idea of associating the fruits of this labor with something positive. it was such an utter pain and stress filled endeavor to build, that sadly, along the way, i plum forgot it would be a place to relax and enjoy. i recall seeing a documentary many years ago about the amish building a house for a newly wed family. it was so inspiring to see the community come together and helping in such a direct way. i started thinking recently about how many people have been involved in building this. from all the various contractors, architect, his assistant, my old college buddy who did a lot of the detailed deisgn and building, his guys that did the wood work and exteriors, friends of ours we bribed w/ ameen's savory meals, paintings, and anything else we could think of. its amazing how it all came together.

Can a Painter Project?

2006-10-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

spent a good part of saturday over at my masi's. was playing with my cousin's notepad pc, which has this great drawing interface. attached is one of the resulting sketches. this was originally a photograph i shot while in india a few months ago. from this pc software, i am able to import an image, and then draw on top of it. i thought the sketch came out well, but felt a little odd about the process. i ran across this article at clickwalla on souza. it mentioned his obsession w/ a camera obscura, which apparently allowed him to project images onto his canvases from where he could paint. i recall being a kid and getting this little light desk thing that let me put a picture in it, and a piece of paper, and i could trace over the image. i was fascinated. like most kids around 11 years of age, reproducing realism was my artist ideal. much later in my art years, i can safely say its not a big deal to sketch things, but often it is a pain blowing up an image from a photo onto canvas to form a starting point for a painting. i can see why souza wanted to skip the effort, and get on w/ the more exciting aspects of his paintings. ameen and i started chatting about this last night - bottom line, is it sleezy in some way to follow such a process? i would think this argument would be considered settled by marcelles du champ's toilet hanging show many years ago. certainly the art world claims it is, nonetheless, i think deep down, even the most ardent "art is what the artist says it is" mantra chanters, have a problem with it. it took ameen 20 minutes and some pondering to finally conclude, yeah, its fine, so long as the artist doesn't hide the process in any way. i, however, think its fine, but am still feeling unsettled. why am i unsettled? if someone can hang a urinal up and call it art -- if legions can shoot photos and call it art -- if legions can accept both as art, why is it such a big deal for me to shoot one's own photo, project it, and jump start the composition process? oddly, it doesn't even bother me to now know one of my favorite painters followed such a process.

another breath

2006-10-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

little poems,
for little pieces
of paper.

no anguish fills my
heart today, just
the bliss
of domesticity.

a wet day,
a visiting friend,
a trip to the dog park.

Freedom

2006-10-29T08:43:00.001-08:00

"I've been watching you. First
the house, then a beautiful
wife, a chocolate pup,
some art on the walls."

The urban hipster, divorce
progeny, coffee drinkers
individualized. We, they --
don't see the simplicity of
family life -- the wonder
outside the club. Obsessed
with the freedom of wandering,
city to city, scene to scene, style
to style.

The roaming bores me, and
the union of family
liberates me.

I look at my new baby and see
eternity, simplicity, fragility,
and my bones.

Last night the sun came out,
blessed me with life, returned
my mother to me.

Education

2006-10-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

University of Wisconsin - Madison, Wisconsin
Master of Science Electrical Engineering, 1994.

Illinois Institute of Technology - Chicago, Illinois
Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering, English Minor, 1993.

Runners

2006-10-28T18:32:00.002-07:00

When two runners meet,
assuming they don't both
run away from one another,
they follow the process
described below:

Step 1. One runner flees.

Step 2. The second follows in pursuit.

Step 3. The first slows down,
out of breath,
side aching,
hunched over,
stares at the ground.

Step 4. The second catches the first,
out of breath,
side aching,
hunched over,
stares at the first.

Steps 1-4 are repeated
indefinately. Which runner
flees and which chases
is arbitrary and typically varies
across iterations.

Eventually the runner fleeing
mistakenly runs in an unfamiliar
direction, suddenly, unexpectedly
reversing course; this is known as
the exception condition.

Condition:

Confused,
the two runners smack
into one another,
bodies slap and
crack hard, ears
screaming, a
piercing ring.

Silently,
like cotton seeds
in spring,
softly floating,
drifting across
golden fields,
swirling,
heads dizzy,
bodies aged,
grasping for breath,
a final,
feeble flutter,
they float,
then fall
to rest.

abalone

2006-10-28T18:32:00.001-07:00

you lie
pressed into
hot sand,
with me,
under this
bubbling sun,
my ear
on your tummy,
i listen to the
sounds of our
waves.

lover

2006-10-28T18:31:00.003-07:00

let this blazing sun
combust me,
spin my bones to smoke,
weave my pulse
through your blessed breath.

eyes

2006-10-28T18:31:00.001-07:00

last night bellingham
bay hurled a cherry pit
glowing full and
bright, spit far
and high,
that wine glazed moon
led my ras gulah
girl and i
through
cedar spice and
winding creeks,
saffron stumbles
on a wooded flight,
plight,
of promise,
wet with smiles.

contained

2006-10-28T18:30:00.001-07:00

on a prairie, golden fields, evening sun, a light wind, sweat,
wheat swaying on rolling hills.

standing, you and i. you hold a matchbox, reveal a 12 inch
wooden stick, press your index finger against the bulb head,
strike. the flame launches up and out, flung high and far,
smooth like a fiery lawn dart.

the match lands. i trail, slowly, under the arc, look down --
a small flame, nice and neat like a bunsen burner's
initialization fire, flickering yellow, contained, stares back
at me. i place my index finger in my mouth, moisten, reach
down and put out the flame. sizzling. smoke.

i look up, you're far from me, flicking another match. i follow
the flame, terminate the emerging fire.

this process continues. new launch sites. new fires. new
terminations. i finally say, "you know, this could start a
real fire, the whole prairie could catch." you ignore me and
flick another.

while crouching to extinguish this flame, i watch a previous
flame re-emerge, unsilenced -- it rises to a roar, crackles,
grass burns, wheat smokes, fire swells, the prairie erupts in
blaze.

2 painters

2006-10-28T18:20:00.001-07:00

wrapped
head to
toe, wire
coils.

passion
in a canvas
cacoon.

wet moon,
thick paint,
red, yellow,
blue,
and black,
drips through
darkness.

drape our print
across a white gallery,
documentation of
two acrylic
lovers.

Shows

2006-10-28T17:51:00.001-07:00

2007 - Recent Paintings - The Neighborhood Cafe, Seattle. Solo show.

2006 - Recent Paintings - Glow Natural Health Center, Seattle. Solo show.

2006 - Recent Paintings - “Tasveer” – Seattle South Asian Film Festival, Seattle. 2 person show.

2005 - Recent Paintings - Neighborhood Cafe, New work on canvas and wood, Seattle. Solo show.

2003 - “The Tiger Returns” - Pendulam Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. Group show.

2002 - “Collaborative Works on Paper of Deep and Ameen Dhillon” - Chitraneketan Gallery, Trivandrum, India. 2 person show.

2001 - Ocean - New work on wood and canvas - Café Fiore, Seattle. Solo show.

1999 - Trapeze - Art Space Gallery, Group Show - Seattle. Group show.

Artist Statement

2006-10-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, I became fascinated with the notion of the poet as an antenna, essentially channeling words onto paper and rejecting the notion that a poem is an artifact of the ego's imposition of control over words. I began experimenting heavily with language, words, phonetics, layout, compositions, etc. A few years later, I began experimenting more with my dreams as content for poems. Eventually I found myself repeatedly using words to paint pictures, stripping my poems of a narrative. I even wound up spending more time worrying about the layout, and the way a reader would encounter the words. I was cutting words out of magazines, pasting them onto pages, and re-arranging them. I feel this was a turning point when I began experimenting with art. I work primarily in acrylic. Mostly on canvas, but also on wood panels. I use a fair bit of mediums and collage. I like walking the line between abstract work and representational. What interests me most about painting is creating something visually energetic while being explicitly un-automatable. When I'm painting, I run as far away from technology as I can get. I love the physical act of painting -- moving the brush in long, rough strokes -- encouraging the paint to drip, and splatter. I'm also interested in letting the painting paint itself -- to act primarily as a channel.

test

2006-10-02T16:48:00.001-07:00

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