Sophia Dixon Dillo

I find that I have an affection for the simple as-isness of things. The white curve of a bone, the negative space created by the bend of a flower, the impression of a printing plate on white paper all capture my attention. Noticing these ordinary objects as particular reveals their unique presence and makes the mind more receptive to beauty. Beauty, to me, is when the mind reaches out to an object and returns nourished. Creating art is my attempt to honor and share this experience.

I am drawn to non-objective abstraction because it tends to strip away the layers of meaning in which our everyday lives are embedded. Non-objective images emphasize a space that exists before labeling, before thinking. Unobstructed by familiar icons, a bodily felt dialogue between the viewer and the work of art then might arise more easily.

I am fascinated with how light can be both visible and invisible at the same time. Light is always present, yet not always seen. My works play with this internal contradiction in the nature of light. I combine transparent, translucent, reflective and opaque layers with all-over patterning to create works that incorporate light and shadow on and between the surfaces. The result is a fusing of the materiality of the art object with the immateriality of light, creating a multivalent visual experience that subtly changes as the viewer moves.

My works are contingent upon their environment, and are meant to create their own space. Many have a commanding size, yet quiet and gentle presence. They request an attentive uprightness in the viewer. Their space invites viewers to step out of their usual mind of narrative thinking and into the field of mind itself. In my experience, it is this field that can show us how to be intimate with the world of form, how to be nourished by things as they arise.