Not as academic pursuits but as maps of the interior. In an age of algorithms and instituional manipulation I am trying to find what is underneath all of it — the dark, primal nature of what we actually are. Not dark as in broken. Dark as in deep. Pre-noise. Original. I want to understand what it looks like to return to that, and what it looks like to build from it. Some of what I make is for men waking up to who they are. All of it comes from the same curiosity about the inner life — mine, and everyone else's.
The Vigil Letters is a monthly letter. One kraft envelope. Written by hand. Sent to a man's door. The formation of the whole person through consistent presence — one man writing to another, month after month.The Unseen Man is a series of paintings. Large figures. Angular planes of color. Men carrying something alone. Each one bears a small mark of gold. The divine nature always present. Never explained.Fear, The Boy is a picture book for any age. A boy becoming a man. The images are lino-cut and dark. It is not a gentle story. It is an honest one.
I am a Christian. My theology is close to the ancient mystical tradition — the belief that God did not just make man in his image and likeness, but more importantly, breathed his own creative energies into him. That breath is still there. That is what I believe about the men I write and paint for. Something the modern world has worked very hard to make a man forget.I believe it is still in him.— Lane Watson
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