Listening

What does it mean to have a truly open heart?

The answer is really
quite simple: An open heart is one which acknowledges and accepts all
possibilities, all realities, as being part of the same whole. It is a door you open. If you open it just a small bit, then only small things come in. You never experience the full joy of living. You remain forever a prisoner of your own fears and limitations. This concept is more easily understood by going deep in the forest, and standing next to the tallest, oldest, wisest tree you can find. Stand there and listen. What you will hear on the whispered sounds of lakes, rivers, leaves and the breaths and sighs of the creatures around you is the message: you are part of everything and it is part of you. The moment this understanding becomes clear, is the moment your heart opens to its full potential

Listening
Review by Nick Garrett
One of Karen Jones’ brilliant ideas when she began her career in art —and watch out, for you will see this surfacing in London and New York in the next five years, so remember, you saw it here first—was to marry the most contemptible elements of visual pop culture: dated, 70s airbrush work, pulp sci-fi artwork, progressive rock record sleeves etc with a sensuous and serious painter’s sensibility. Here, in Listening she utilises the gorgeous tones of the almost airbrush technique to create a nightmare, deformed creature, hunched and, however painfully, listening; listening, as we are all increasingly forced to listen to things we do not wish to listen to and do not believe are true. This is a savage and clever picture.