About Mike Lanni
Presence: The intention of my work.
Many years ago, I was told by a close family friend,
Mike, I like this piece, but I do not like this other piece.
Thank you,
I said.
He, a WWII Veteran, a Jew who escaped the Nazis and went back to fight them, and a retired plumber who had 50 + years in the field, explained to me that in his lifetime he had seen all the ugliness he ever wanted to see. Now he only looked at beauty. He had made a choice.
My one painting, a social-political piece commenting on the domination of women from antiquity to current times titled “SUB SERVE IENCE,” depicted a woman's feet nailed to a wooden floor in a forced kneel. The pads of her feet bleeding and the hem of her dress a beautiful blue. The other Painting, an abstract, was of a deep purple and flowed across the canvas like water. Obviously, he liked the purple.
I set to thinking about his comment. I thought about it for several years. It led me to think about the Yin and Yang symbol - a symbol that has become so saturated in our world that it has lost it's meaning. No one sees it anymore; no one contemplates nor comprehends its importance. Through looking at this symbol, I realized that I believe there is an equal amount of “good” and “evil” in the world, no matter what. I realized that, like my old mentor, I had a choice to make.
I looked at my life and the way I had spent my time. I looked at my thoughts and my ponderings. I had spent years focused on the Yang. I had spent years fighting and complaining, angry and seeing the bad. I had watched the News, and felt the drama and fear they push. I had been living in the Yang, and it was not a happiness.
I realized that this was a choice I had made. I realized that, though I had the responsibility to be aware of and stand up to what is wrong, I did not need to live in it. I did not need to immerse my soul in a dark cloud. With a full 50% of that which is in the realm of Yin, I could chose to live and work there, creating a force for the positive. I made a decision. I would combat the 10 o'clock news. They certainly have a handle on adding negativity into the universe, I am not needed for that. My place as a person and an artist is to add in on the other side. To help to balance the equation.
With this mission, I have set out to create the beauty that this world needs, that it seems starved for if we forget that it is in just as much plentitude as the ugly. Perhaps my work could serve as a reminder or a signpost directing attention back to the wonderful. As I worked, I started to realize the importance of beauty. Its inspirational value, its meaning to those of us who suffer from this human condition. Beauty is important. It can flow over you like a wave of delight. It is just as powerful as drama, fear, pain, and loss. It is powerful enough to bring peace.
When I create a work that causes someone to gasp, to marvel, to be inspired, to call out the name of their maker; I am in that moment rewarded. That is the best time of my life. I am filled with pride because I have accomplished what I set out to do—to improve life. I have accomplished my intention—to create a Presence of beauty that did not exist prior. I have given the gift of enjoyment, and that, THAT, is a true happiness. That is Presence.
Mike Lanni
