Saint Helices 71, 12" x 9", oil and assemblage on board, 1996. Artist's collection.

Versions 71, and 71a, are the result of an experiment wherein I visualized a process by which to "paint" a Saint Helices painting without "directly" painting it. I achieved this task by anticipating the formulamatic nature of the composition, and set up five painted shapes out of which the elements of the Saint Helices composition would be cut and rejoined on the picture plane. The series of five painted shapes out of which the components for version 71 were generated became so much a part of the idea of the resulting Saint Helices piece that I kept the entire experiment intact as Saint Helices 71 and 71a.