Seeing is believing, or so the saying goes.

Rene Descartes said: “We do not describe the world we see, we see the world we can describe.”

Its all so abstract yet it is through our eyes we form a picture of our world. This squishy organ which perceives the world combined with the squishy grey stuff which fills in the gaps as per our beliefs and prejudices.

Eyes have a spiritual meaning too and can be likened as windows to the soul. We can perceive through our eyes the pain or joy within someone else’s eyes.

They are emotional conduits; dilated pupils subconsciously betray our attraction and desires; lightning strikes from a steely stare reflect our anger…

In the arts our senses are employed too. Music we hear and feel deep within, making our feet and bodies move in expression of the rhythm. Poetry and prose conjure up images through words and sound within our mind’s eye. A picture says a thousand words…

Sight is one of our senses. The other four being hearing, touch, smell and taste. We constantly make sense of our world through a combination of these, perceiving our place in the here and now.

It is with sight, the visual experience, I am mostly concerned with in my work. Although the process of creating my narrative encompasses touch, sound and even smell the experience of my sculptures is mostly visual. (I sometimes liken it to ”music for the eyes”)

In a quirky moment preparing for a hotshop session at Smelt I started drawing eyes. This was to become the theme for an upcoming series of works where I can sculpturally include narrative details within the glass. I love the irony of an eye looking out and the eye of the spectator echoing back at it. It somehow creates a loop – looking in, looking out.

This is an exciting moment! I feel I have reached a higher level of expressing myself. Ironically, it is through the process that I am understanding the deeper repercussions of the philosophy; I have opened a pandora’s box of possibilities, yet again. I am loving this as new paths are formed and explored.

Watch this space… 😉