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Rudy Ernst: small is BIG

I am in awe of the limitless wonders
of the Universe above us and of nature's infinite creativity
in its magnified microcosm.
While many of my large paintings are a partial expression
of what happens in those vast skies,
the Teenies, - my Dada miniature drawings -
relate to the unbound originality of nature.
They may well be a subconscious attempt 'to reinvent nature'
as Dennis Wepman called them almost twenty-five years ago.

During my lifetime I have witnessed the exciting
and profound revolution from an analog to a digital world,
which I have integrated into my paintings.
While miniaturization in the field of nanotechnology
has now reached sub-atomic levels,
a trend of 'ever-bigger' at the very opposite end
has become a familiar theme of our daily lives,
as expressed in my super large paintings.

To create a deeper, ever more complete experience
of my artwork, I am also using sound to allow the spectator
to be more fully immersed in this environment,
since our hearing touches us at a deeper emotional level.

One particular philosophical aspect of human life
has fascinated me since my early adolescence:
We all share a common mother in southeast Africa
that lived some 80,000 years ago,
which accounts for 99.8% of all human DNA being identical.
In other words, when we meet a single human being,
we have just met all of humanity.

This bond becomes particularly noticeable
in the folk music of the many nations and tribes,
that reflect (or imitate)
countless aspects of nature's original sounds.
I have interwoven them altogether
in my acoustic canvasses,
most recently in my 'Symphony of my Life.'

Rudy Ernst, July 2009