About

"The heart has reasons that reason does not know." -Blaise Paschal

Art has the ability to convey in a vital and dynamic way 'the reasons which reason does not know'. I find those places and spaces of the heart and ‘apprehend’ them. This differs from comprehension in that apprehension involves both critical thinking and intuition. I rely heavily on intuition to support the intellectual aspect of my creative process. The imagery I create is the result of bridging the conscious and unconscious, here and there, concrete and sublime. The image which manifests itself through me bears witness to the presence of other reality.

Additionally, my art facilitates a personal artistic experience of apprehension unique to the individual viewer. I know where I was going and what I discovered in the process of making the painting. But I believe that something equally valid occurs when a viewer stands before a work of art. She brings with her the sum total of her own life experiences to that very moment in time. By the juxtaposition and use of the formal concepts of art to create a painting, my art triggers the convergence of memories and meaning to create the individual's own experience of that work of art. A visceral link is formed between the visible and the invisible. I want to leave each painting hanging in the mind and on the heart, to invite, engage, evoke, enlighten...

-Aileen

Aileen is a painter, mixed media artist and photographer who currently resides on Harkers Island, NC