A Confession

     On occasion, I feel the need to take the various themes that I am developing in my paintings and weave them neatly together under a single all-encompassing rubric. However, I was not having much success with my latest attempts at a "Grand Unification Artist's Statement" and was even considering the possibility of adopting an additional personality to take credit -- or perhaps defend -- those stubborn dangling tangents that refused to fit neatly into the "nutshell" I was attempting to craft.

     Then recently I had an epiphany, triggered by a very unexpected source. This source, a voice I usually associate with mangled syntax and fugitive meaning, managed to lift my prolonged mind fog with just two words: "revisionist history." And yes, while thrilled that I have finally discovered a unifying principle to integrate my seemingly disparate interests, I do find the circumstances leading to my breakthrough a bit embarrassing. I mean, should I credit the master of this voice for bringing order to my world, this man who, along with his entourage, seems exceedingly gifted at mucking things up? (Perhaps they are like the trickster gods of mythology, slapping us all repeatedly in the face until we wake up…or die from severe head trauma).

     The exciting part is that this breakthrough requires me to adopt a new identity, one that may be more relevant than that of painter. So please allow me to introduce myself: my name is Marc Silva, and I am a Revisionist Historian. Welcome to my web home. And visit often, because things, you know, change.

- September 7, 2003