The Sublime is the Ultimate Concept in Fine Art

And I Think the Space Series Honors That, an Introduction

I began The Space Series: A Hymn to the Human Spirit in August 2022 as a self-funded exploration of human sublimity. So far, consisting of thirteen monumental oil paintings—each 64x48", the largest my studio can comfortably produce—this is my most ambitious project yet. For it, I selected the most beautiful, most sensual models available to me, all in their physical and emotional prime.

The sublime is the ultimate concept in fine art, representing the furthest reaches of what’s possible in both artistic form and emotional intensity. It encompasses universality, innovation, passion, eudaemonia (ultimate moments of fulfillment), and the most epic love human beings are capable of.

Unbeknownst to me when I first began painting 57 years ago, I had been born with what Aristotle called a eudaemonia sense of life: a realistic state of happiness that is an end in itself. My addition to that is the passionate experience of feeling love—whether for a moment, for another person, or simply for existence itself.

I believe art is meant to capture those moments as ends in themselves—moments that make life worth living. The act of painting inspires me to evolve, to dive as deep as possible into sensuality, to resolve psychological mysteries, and to ignite divinity in the viewer.

All my work is committed to sensual and perceptual immersion, but the Space Series is where I aim to "knock out of the park" every one of those elements—culminating in what I consider the true meaning of the artistic sublime.

I expect the series to include around 20 paintings. I’m currently working on the 14th, Pan Kicking the Center of the Universe, with the next three already conceptualized. When complete, I envision them all displayed together in a great museum—a hymn to the human spirit.