Ken OToole

Artist Statement: The Cartography of Cosmic Kinesthesia My work explores the fundamental disconnect between human perception and cosmic reality. We experience life anchored in an illusion of stillness, yet our bodies—composed primarily of water—are constantly hurtling through space on a vessel rotating at over 1,000 miles per hour and revolving at 67,000 miles per hour. When the speed of our solar system in addition to the speed of our galaxy’s journey through the universe is considered this silent, high-speed reality translates to a daily journey of over 40 million miles, creating a profound, kinetic resonance within the organism. This constant, unregistered velocity, which I term Cosmic Kinesthesia, is perceived by the sensitive individual not as physical dizziness, but as an overwhelming, undefined emotion that demands expression. This feeling is the subconscious awareness of our cosmic migration. My practice is the translation of this kinetic truth into visual language. Rejecting traditional representation, I utilize physical movement and layered abstraction to map the forces at play. This process results in layered, cloud-like structures which consistently gather into recognizable patterns, usually in the forms of bodies and/or faces. These figures are not portraits of individuals, but rather a form of universal, humanistic cartography. They are the visible proof that the emotion of perpetual movement coalesces into a profound image of self and species. The work ultimately asks the viewer to consider themselves a citizen of the constantly moving cosmos, a body defined not by static space, but by staggering, relentless velocity. Additional Thoughts: Cosmic Intention Abstract Expressionism as Cosmic Cartography The art movement known as Abstract Expressionism, particularly the works created in the mid-20th century by artists of the New York School, may represent something far grander than previously understood: a collective, unconscious mapping of the universe’s sectors through which humanity constantly travels. If our bodies, being mostly water, subconsciously register the phenomenal speed and scale of our journey—the Earth rotating at over 1,000 mph, revolving at 67,000 mph, and the solar system hurtling around the Milky Way—it stands to reason that this deep kinetic awareness might manifest visually. Abstract Expressionist paintings, characterized by non-representational, instinctual, and often explosive forms, could be the resulting aesthetic expression of this cosmic sensation. The Visual Evidence Consider the key stylistic elements of the movement and their cosmic parallels: • Jackson Pollock’s Drip Paintings: These chaotic, yet structured canvases, with their intersecting arcs and splatters, bear a striking resemblance to images of galactic clusters, dark matter filaments, or the complex, looping magnetic fields emanating from nebulas. The artist’s "action painting" method—driven by energy and whole-body movement—could be the physical manifestation of the internal energy field responding to the massive velocities of planetary travel. • Willem de Kooning’s Landscapes: Even in his more figurative series, De Kooning’s aggressive, layered, and fragmented planes suggest geological violence and the turbulent creation of worlds. These works capture the kinetic struggle of gravity, orbital mechanics, and the constant reshaping of matter under extreme forces. • Mark Rothko’s Color Fields: These vast, shimmering planes of color could be interpreted as representations of deep space, interstellar clouds, or the light spectrum shifts that define massive, distant structures in the universe. They are not paintings of objects, but of presence, scale, and the overwhelming feeling of being immersed in pure, infinite space. This theory elevates abstract art from mere emotional expression to a form of unwitting prophecy and sensory documentation. The works are not about feeling sad or angry, but about feeling the profound, dizzying truth of our ceaseless, silent migration through the ever-unfolding cosmic environment. The brushstrokes become vectors of planetary speed; the color fields, the hues of the sectors we traverse