Eyes of the Beholder
Obviously, when different people look at life, or other people, or a work of art, they will not all see the same thing,
at the same time and in the same way. Each observer responds in his/her own “reality”: that reality is made up of concrete, external reality (which depends mostly upon their perceptual, or physical reality, or physical space) and their inner or internal reality (based more upon time than space, because it does not exist anywhere except in our individual heads and hearts). We would be hard-pressed to demonstrate that our inner reality actually does exist, in terms of the physical, or spatial reality. In effect, it is everywhere, yet nowhere, at one and the same time.
With the sculpture, "... Eyes Of The Beholder", the artist offers this challenge: reflect upon the reality that whatever you see, in any situation, is "colored by your reality (or unreality)"; that is, your physical reality superimposed upon your inner reality or your spiritual reality. In the jargon of our American youth of today: it will depend upon "where you are coming from"; and, more particularly, it will depend upon "where you are coming from, in that particular life-moment". As mere human beings, naturally, we do not "come from the same place", or "see with the same eyes", all of the time. It follows, then that when we "come from those different places" and "see with those different eyes", it is our life-condition, as much as our eyes, which enables us "to see", or compels us "not to see” whatever is truly there to be seen. Next, we could go on to speak about hearing what there is to be heard, but that is a whole conversation, in and of itself.
Personal statement from the artist/ sculptor, Mr. Emmett Amos