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Open Door is a small (9 x 12) collage I finished recently.   

In creating this piece I thought a lot about the curiosity of abandoned spaces and why they are so provocative.

“The small building stood in the middle of a field.  It was not large, yet large enough to house his enormous imaginings as he stood at the threshold.  The door stood open.  Overgrown with grasses and weeds, the interior of the building appeared even darker against the surrounding light.  He stood for a long while, silently staring through the doorway.  The day progressed unexceptionally.  Tavi, the old collie at his side, yawned, then lifted his nose to a passing butterfly.  An occasional breeze shifted the grass and leggy blossoms scattered through the field.  The entry gazed back at him.” 

A building is not a natural structure, but created by people, and the absence of people invokes questions about who they were and why they are no longer occupants.  There is almost a suggestion that they may no longer be alive, that their physical form no longer exists while the building still stands resolute. 

“A soft thud broke the silence.  The old dog’s ears perked up, and he lunged forward suddenly, the man instinctively gripping Tavi’s collar.   Stopped short, the dog sniffed the air as the man stroked his head and squinted his eyes, trying to make out a few indistinct shapes.”

Even when answers are there to be found, sometimes we choose to continue imagining.  In this piece, like others, the canvas is just a snapshot.  The man and his dog are not evident in this collage, and maybe they are not there at all.  If they are real, if they do stand at the open door questioning if they should enter, then they are standing in the same place where the viewer stands.  The viewer may have similar questions, similar curiosities.  Do they enter?  Even as the artist I don’t know the answer, but I do know that even the largest room is smaller than our imagination.