
Winged Victory
2021. Acrylic on wood panel. 48 x 36 inches
Read Bovenzi’s interview on The Studiowork
I use visual language to evoke an interior, sensate space, and abstraction seems to be the most direct means to do so. The language of abstraction carries its own reality, holding a meaning no less powerful than words. A successful abstract painting is what it is—complete in itself. It invites you to connect with the part of your being that is not served by speech, and nourishes you there.
My painting has been informed by two sources: the natural world and the art of various spiritual traditions. I have looked deeply at pre-Renaissance western painting (Spanish manuscripts, Sienese painting, Romanesque and Byzantine art), as well as Indian miniatures, Tantric images, and Native American artifacts. All of these traditions have relied either wholly or partially on abstraction to express their beliefs about the relationship of humans to the cosmos. The commonality of their use of space and shapes holds truth for me and provides a ground for my own work. I place myself in the tradition of artists who have tried to give visible form to the invisible. I make images which I hope evoke a sense of both power and enigma, beauty and unease.