Existence is defined by change -- the knowledge that there is something before and after the present moment. Change often appears negative -- disease, death, war, tragedy, despair -- but when our fragilities are revealed, we test our true strength as human beings.

The conceptual underpinning for this work is my extensive study of disease cells, cancer growth, brain tissue electromicrograms, theoretical astrophysics, magnetic resonance images of abnormally-developing fetuses in utero, and deep sea photography. I have examined underwater creatures surviving in boiling acid vents at one thousand atmospheres of pressure, diseased tissue (which will eventually kill the person it belonged to), and the DNA of cancer cells. I have looked in places we aren't supposed to see.

These paintings deal with testing and expanding the possibilities of humanity, overcoming challenges, and yet, revealing the beauty in things we have come to associate with pain and sorrow. It is the duality of life which makes it life and not simply an album of triumphs. Therefore, I seek to explore all facets of experience to achieve a more genuine sense of wisdom, beauty, and truth as aletheia -- that which reveals as it conceals.

Victoria Boardman
Brooklyn, NY, 2003

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