If a flag is a symbol, then what do my Flags stand for (or represent)? The psychologist, Carl Jung contrasted the view that a sign stands for something known and a symbol is used to stand for something that is unknown and that cannot be made clear or precise. The meaning of my Flags is certainly unknown to me, except that they continue an exploration of color, form and light and are an emotional reflection of my immediate visual environment: urban, domestic and natural.

Flags are a break from my work of fifteen years—that of single works composed of four panels each. Each Flag is composed of three panels of different dimensions and are acrylic on tracing vellum. As they accumulated, I began to picture them blowing in the wind, suspended from a line, like clothes on a clothesline or Tibetan prayer flags.

Using President Obama’s first book, “Dreams from My Father” as a title oracle, I closed my eyes and for each title, pointed a finger to a place on a page. “We don’t have more time” became a title, and so on.