Detail: The New Pioneers
(Click for full-size image)
About the Artist
Mark Henson traces his artistic origins back to his recollections of experimenting with crayons on the walls of his childhood home in Sacramento, California. He had the good fortune to be born into a time of great cultural upheaval known as the Sixties, attending high school and receiving a degree from the University of California during those transformative years. Mark has always centered his life around art, and has explored not only painting and drawing, but also sculpture, computer arts, printmaking and graphic arts, ceramics and fabric design. Mark was often combines forces with other artists on special projects. He lives in an ancient schoolhouse in rural Northern California, and maintains a small studio retreat in the cloud forest of Costa Rica.
MARK HENSON ARTIST STATEMENT
I’ve always been interested in weird stuff. I was elated to discover that through the use of a pencil I could create my own universe, if only on paper. I was lucky enough to encounter some ancient wisdom from India while a youngster, and so I learned to focus my creative ability on what I do best, and to work for the enlightenment of all.
My art tends to be somewhat narrative- I like to tell a story or show a state of emotion or consciousness with my images. I often begin with some sort of idea or theme. This theme might be suggested by anything, or may just drift into consciousness during my day. I am often asked if I receive these images while dreaming asleep.
Sometimes they do come in dreams, but usually they are floating around in my mind, just waiting to be noticed..
While I tend to be a down-to -earth person, when aspiring to creativity, I begin by looking deeply within myself, and seek to express what I may find there. My sincere wish is to tap into the Divine Source of Being, to Consciousness, to Spirit, or whatever you may call it-, that place where existence comes from, and to bring into visual reality images manifesting the knowledge revealed while in this presence. Strangely enough, I have discovered that the more intensely personal my vision is, the more universal its message when presented to the world.
I believe that art can have the ability to catalyze social and cultural changes. Art has the magical power to evoke emotional as well as intellectual thinking. Realizing this, my desire as an artist is to create compelling images of beauty and power that serve to promote our Conscious Evolution as human beings, and to show us how to live in a peaceful world. To this end I like to explore and present images with themes of Awakening Consciousness, Divine Sexuality, Political Realities and Living in Harmony with Nature.
Website: http://www.sacredlight.to
