Over the past few years, although I continue with painting, I have become more engaged with sculpture. This has involved the process of searching, gathering , sorting, editing, and recombining various elements which have been discarded and separated from their original context. For the artist, these elements possess "kami",which is the Shinto concept of the spirit within the thing.

Often, one rusty shape or worn piece of wood becomes the centre of attraction for other elements, either found or fashioned by my own hand. It is in the juxtaposing of these objects that relationships are set up and reveal something about the nature of integration. The newly formed object is not preconceived but discovered. When the elements come together, there is an integral unity, yet the parts retain their unique characteristics. There is a naturalness in this reordering. The artist is attracted to ambiguous shapes and objects whose original purpose has become obscure. These objects compel because they possess a sense of "wabi", a Zen term meaning "poverty" in a positive sense or "suchness", possessing a quality of genuineness. "A life of wabi can then be defined: an inexpressible quiet joy deeply hidden beneath sheer poverty... " (D.T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture, p.286)

There is not so much the imposition of will onto the materials as a respect for the character of the materials. An attraction causes a response which results in a dialogue between artist and materials. It is the tension between the spiritual and material which excites the artist and the naturalness of a new entity which comes into being as a result.

Some of my works integrate painting and collage with washi (handmade Japanese paper). They originate from the impulse to bring diverse elements together. The inherent theme is integration. Integration involves the relationships of one thing with another and the relationships of that part with the whole. Collage is the means byu which the diverse elements are united into a whole.

A fundamental conviction of the artist is that the nature of art is in essence spiritual. By spiritual is meant those qualities, capacities or attributes, which, through immaterial, lie at the heart of life. Just as the world uses physical matter in nature to express these spiritual realities, so the artist uses the medium of collage to express the inner state arising from the influence of these realities.

The work is influences by the Canadian Prairies, whose moving and variegated fields, isolated figures and large spaces foster a contemplative and reflective attitude. Aesthetically, there is much owed to certain aspects of Asian art, Zen concepts of beauty, and the primitive art of various cultures. The work is inspired by the artist's long study and striving to practice the teachings of Bah'u'llah, whose fundamental theme is unity in diversity.

Lorraine Pritchard, 1996