// Entropy High XXI (ice calving)  oil on canvas, 36 × 48 //

 

// Reverence I  acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 18 //

 

// Reverence II  acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 18 // SOLD

 

// Reverence III  acrylic and oil on canvas, 24 x 18 // SOLD

 

// Reverence VI  acrylic and oil with ballpoint pen on canvas, 20 x 16 // SOLD

 

// Reverence VIII  acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 //

 

// Reverence X  acrylic and oil on canvas, 14 x 11 //

 

// Reverence XI  acrylic and oil on canvas, 14 x 11 //

 

// Reverence XII  acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 //

 

// Reverence IX  acrylic and oil with ballpoint pen on canvas, 24 x 18 //

 

// Reverence XIII  acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 //

 

// Reverence VII  acrylic and oil with ballpoint pen on canvas, 20 x 16 //

 

The Idioms Project

Words to live by is an ongoing project visualizing German idioms and their English counterparts.

“In everyday conversations we sometimes utilize idioms to provide emphasis to a story or a statement. After moving to the United States in 1996, I would often wonder what the meaning of some of those special phrases were. There are an estimated twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English language. A word-by-word translation, however, will often not provide the same meaning in other languages. Idioms with literal meanings were somewhat easy for me to understand. However, the idioms with figurative meaning were the ones that confused but intrigued me the most for their humorous implications. Because these expressions were so new to me, I was perplexed by the imagery that my brain was rendering in order to better understand them. When I would occasionally use idioms myself, I would confuse others, and I realized that I had translated a German idiom into English.

In comparing German and English idioms, I would discover some corresponding elements: e.g., in the English language, one “pulls someone’s leg”; in German, one is “taking somebody on the arm.” In both languages, body parts are the noun in the expression, yet they are entirely different. Only a few idioms are almost identical in their phrasing, e.g.,“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

 

// Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm //

// The apple does not fall far from the tree //

// Erzähl mir keine Märchen //

// Don’t piss on my back and tell it’s raining //

// Du nimmst mich auf den Arm //

// You are pulling my leg //

 

All prints are 14 x 11 inches
Digital collage; original and found material
Archival ink on Hahnemühle coated paper
Limited edition of 5

 

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