Butterfly Effect, ink on Claybord, 48”x60”, 2020 (sold) — *Butterfly Effect,* ink on Claybord, 48”x60”, 2020 (sold)

Butterfly Effect is a painting that was in fact, both created during the current pandemic and in response to it. The term Butterfly Effect originates out of the science of chaos theory specifically derived from Edward Lorenz’s findings during his study of weather systems in the mid part of 20th century. I first encountered these universal laws of nonlinear systems while reading James Gleick’s book Chaos after becoming interested in fluid dynamics and how that field of study might relate to art and painting processes in particular. Small perturbances in our environmental systems can have global consequences as we are now seeing with COVID-19. One infection leads to millions because we are a completely integrated and connected human system on a planetary scale like a single organism. How could I approach that massive concept with paint?

The colors I used were selected from corresponding energy centers within the human body or better known as chakras in Eastern philosophy. During the painting process, as the fluid patterns developed and created paths naturally, one color lead to the next and combined with the one adjacent to it until one interwoven environment was born. The underlying color schematic was ultimately determined somewhat randomly by tossing stones and letting them fall into place. I see this “stone toss” as a type of asemic writing whereby I employ the Earth’s electromagnetic gravitational field to determine where colors are placed and in essence rewriting the future of the work. The subliminal message interwoven within this system of color and patterns begins to emerge and emanate: if we heal ourselves, we can heal each other and the planet.

To create the work, I used dye-based inks within a system that includes a carefully mixed color palette, paint pouring and fine-tuned painting techniques; I worked both flat and at the easel and used Claybord, a clay coated wood panel manufactured by hand in Texas by Ampersand. I arrived at this current method of working due to some physical limitations and also for technical reasons like drying times and limited time constraints. Pouring paint is like building sediment layers in stone, creating wave patterns in sand and bringing about tree rings born out of drying paint puddles shrinking one ring at a time. Therefore, my process and subject matter is both temporal and symbiotic.

Butterfly Effect, was created in loving memory of my friend Edwin Ramos, CFO/COO at Ampersand Art Supply and will now live with his wife and my friend, company President/CEO, Elaine Salazar.