Goldberg Variations

The first time I heard Bach’s Goldberg Variations, I felt as though Bach could not possibly have been of this world. The music seemed to come from the heavens—surely no mortal could compose something so beautiful and, at the same time, so perfectly logical.

Years later, I decided to paint my response to it. I listened to the Goldberg Variations throughout the entire process. The black squares are a visual nod to punctus contra punctum—“point against point,” the origin of the word counterpoint—and to the intricate structure of Bach’s music. A bird also found its way into the painting, a small presence within this ordered and otherworldly landscape.

Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 36 x 36 x 1