This style of pattern painting I brought to full maturity during a three year sojourn in South America, working in studios in Cusco, Peru and Bahia, Brazil. It is derived largely from my travels: you can see the Arabic script I witnessed through Asia, the weaving patterns and bright colors of
ethnic dress, the shapes of rice paddies or Incan terracing, and the hallucinatory aspect of traveling, whether the journey is physical or spiritual. In terms of themes, I like to build my paintings around personal or psychological issues because I spend so long time meditating on the canvas and enjoy working through a variety of processes at once: how colors work, the architecture of form and internal dreams or ideas. There are many oppositions that are integrated, from the excitement of abstraction to the power of realism and the depth of dream. Each time I address a big painting I find my style of pattern painting growing and expanding, able to meet new needs and broach new frontiers, I only wish I had more time to follow where it wants to lead me.

Doniphan Blair, Oakland 12/00