Painting
Thomas Gleaner’s work examines the enduring vulnerability of language, which is susceptible to spin, manipulation, obfuscation, and misinterpretation. More specifically, his work ponders humanity’s enduring unwillingness to heed the wise counsel of life lessons compiled throughout the ages.
Gleaner initiates the process by gathering lists of idioms, aphorisms, proverbs, or sage advice from literature, philosophy, religion, and his own writings. Select quotes are handwritten in an intuitive, entangled manner so as to conceal any meaning or value that might be obtained from the transcribed passage.
As the inherent nature of humanity remains impulsive and fallible, these works may illuminate one’s unconscious reluctance to convert rational awareness into a more positive and sustainable life practice. In one sense, Gleaner’s work can be interpreted as the artist’s own search for harmony within the dissonance. In this “Information Age”, we now have unlimited access to all this wisdom and knowledge, but to what end?
