Man with a Black Square

From nine by nine inches to nine by twelve inches, the composition of an old sketch grew slowly into its new dimensions. The sketch was originally used to create one of my square paintings, which I allude to in replacing the glass that the figure was holding with a black square. I’ve named the drawing after this change, “Man with a Black Square.” The birds in the carpet and the crow in the Japanese painting on the wall are also new embellishments.


Crows has become fascinating to me after watching a Public Television Programs about investigations into crow intelligence. Apparently they recognize and recall individual human faces. So crows know us. How amazing! The crow in the painting within my drawing is taken from a painting by the Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyrosai. As a Chinese speaker and sometimes writer, I thought it would be interesting to include a real Chinese message in calligraphy on the face of this painting. It reads; A Picture of a Crow, Janet was inspired by joku (Equal in Nothingness - the artist name of Kyrosai).