Artist Statement

Art for me is about perception: the practice of remembering or entering a mindset of seeing things, the world, as it is without the influences of linguistic, cultural, and familial conditioning. When we are first born, this is how we see. There are no words, no rules, no established mental structures to interpret what we see. Engaging in the process of creating representational art, that is art that appears to be like the external world that we are seeing, aids the process of re-engaging that “empty mind“of our newborn selves. From this focus of attention, we can re-experience the awe, wonder, and mystery of our very existence.

This practice is what I use in my own work when creating new pieces. It could be called Zen mind: a letting go of thinking, object naming, and inner dialogue to make space for paying attention to the sense of vision while gazing at anything in my surroundings.

Artwork created during this practice can, in a mysterious way, be imbued with this quietude. Viewers of the pieces have reported that they are able to experience this with no explanation given, leading them to an inner awareness of the familiar expression, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder“, or as I like to phrase it, “beauty in the ordinary”.

Artist Bio

Dublin-born, Seamus Berkeley lives in Taos, New Mexico and travels extensively for inspiration for his paintings and photographic images. He uses oils as his primary painting medium, focusing on a variety of subjects in a representational impressionistic style and digital camera and phone for his exploration of the natural world. His paintings and images are extensively collected, both nationally and internationally. He has won several regional and national awards for his artwork, including Best Portrait at the Oil Painters of America show in 2000. He is the founder and past president of the Taos Society of Portrait Artists and a past member of the Oil Painters of America. Berkeley’s work has been featured in such publications as Southwest Art, University of Oxford, Information Warehouse, The Taos News, Art-Talk, and The Trail-Gazette. His influences include esteemed artists Charles Cross, Nancy Guzik, Quang Ho, David Lefel, Ron Sherr, Richard Schmid, and Teresa Vito.