My work opens the opportunity for the private study of a new personal contemporary archeology where predefined facts are irrelevant and imagination is imperative. With a sense of awe and wonder, the reaction to the work asks questions of what, where, when, and who; these questions being the necessary steps toward the development of a story – a narrative unique to each viewer. Personal stories, remembrances, and ideas coalesce to create a new private mythology, thereby giving order and comprehension to imagined scenarios and things not understood. Striving to reside in myth, this work gives the viewer clues
as to where to begin their story and purposely eliminates the boundaries of where to finish it. Through the avenues of curious thought the viewer looks inward; participation and collaboration with the work ultimately yields the development of a finished narrative for the work. Of critical importance is the viewer’s process of participation in the final outcome of the work. Right or wrong stories do not exist, therefore validation of the personal narrative lives within a meaningful and honest interaction with the work. Universal to the human condition, wonderment of the unknown has no cultural imports, no territorial boundaries, no language barriers; it is inherent in all of us.

Brian Harper