Integral Expression, Childlike Directness

Kelli Bickman’s art is characterized by vivid shapes, dynamic patterning, minimal modeling, and luminous color, all of which generates a childlike style of directness and immediacy. This is an art that weaves together religious, natural, and popular imagery, written characters from various languages, archetypal figures, and diagrammatic signs into coherent communicative wholes. Diverse modes of symbolization are integrated into scintillating orders of revelatory meaning.

Bickman’s art also brings forth novel modes of attunement. The philosopher Heidegger wrote that experience is opened in part through fundamental attunements (Stimmungen) that are more pervasive and subtle in their feeling tone than are what we call the emotions—feeling-tones that pre-interpret and orient our ways in the world. A pervasive attunement resonant in much of Blickman’s work is an unflinchingly felt-sense of the embracing of life in all its nuanced tastes and flavors, an ecstatic everydayness, radiant and reposed, playful and deep, available to all: a naked joy, wonder, and freshness that saturates the transpersonal shining of this art’s integrally-woven symbolic expression.

Michael Schwartz
March 2011

From the artist:

“Buddhist teachings say life is suffering. They also say there is a way to eliminate suffering and meditation is the key. Painting is a form of meditation. Peace is often found in the pure moments of unfolding creation. Through discipline and hard work, magic happens and beauty manifests.

A wise artist friend once told me that in order to create great art one must do three things. First, one must throw out their friends. Second, one must throw out their lovers. And third, one must throw out themselves. Then, he said, there will be room to make great art. This is the challenge of any artist and the study of the great teachers helps us achieve this.

As I have dedicated my life to the creation of art and expression of spiritual truth, many of these images were born through my search for light. Demons & Deities are a part of all of our lives, yin & yang, light & dark, and because of the nature of duality, we can’t have one without the other.

It is my hope that thru the creation of these images in a ‘Pop Art’ style that they will be easily accessible to a wide audience. I invite people from all walks of life, and all traditions, to explore sacred imagery and awaken to their own divine self.”

Kelli Bickman