Lucas DeGiulio
Artist Statement
Eye, Liner:
Waiting in lines
Line Dancing
Lining up
In my Line of work
Bloodline
cutting the Line
along those Lines
crossing the Line
to a chorus Line
drawing a Line in the sand
a fine line
going online
sorry the Line is busy
busy learning my Lines
(to the) end of the Line
somewhere down the Line
While at Headlands
I will further explore the phenomenon of Pareidolia and encourage its operation within my painting. Pareidolia is the psychological tendency to discover recognizable forms, patterns, faces, etc. within our surroundings where there seemingly are none. I am reminded of Antonin Artaud’s amazement in finding recurring rock-figures while journeying through the canyons of Northern Mexico in 1936 in his memoir The Peyote Dance: “Between the mountain and myself I cannot say which was haunted, but in my voyage across the mountain I saw an optical miracle of this kind occur at least once a day.”
I am thrilled because Pareidolia abounds in the striking Geological and cloud formations found throughout the Headlands. For example, it is easy to find forms and figures on the face of the prevalent Radiolarian Ribbon Chert rocks, and in actuality, these formations are created by billions of microscopic fossils, so there is a story found deep within as well.
In my other work as an elementary school teacher, I am routinely reminded by my young students how Pareidolia stokes the fire of imagination and memory…it is surprisingly easy for the children to recall the location of a specific Redwood tree burl when it bears a resemblance to a bunny rabbit or when exposed and weathered tree roots conjure the mythological Medusa. This open embrace of the varied changing forms found in nature is a practice that I hope finds its way into my painting.
