When I made this painting, I'd been slowly mulling and skimming
philosophical essays of the mid-to-late 19th century. Mathematical reasoning,
statistics, metaphysics, evolution, logic, are all concepts that found popular
expression during that century and provide an engaging backdrop for a painter
like myself. Living in a time when the focus of any one field has become so
narrow and discreet that it almost acts as a separate and complete system of
logic in itself, I find that many of us have stopped trusting our own innate
abilities of contemplation, and instead rely more and more on snippets of Google-able "truths" to
form the basis of our thought.
Chauncey Wright, a mathematically gifted thinker from this period, put together an understanding of the universe by making comparisons to the weather. His "cosmical weather" is exciting not just because it foreshadows "The Big Bang," but because he's taken something as accessible and mundane as the weather to help him structure the logic of his theory via analogy, extrapolation and most of all, just plain old daily experience. He didn't need to be a meteorologist to think about the weather.
When I was looking through the different stages in the development of this painting, I thought it rather interesting how it mimicked the picture I have in my head of the way, say the Earth, was formed: A big fiery mass slowly cooling and developing distinctions, temperatures fluctuate - allowing for variant surfaces, metals coagulate and so on.
This painting is done in homage to those who think first and ask questions later.