GLIDE

Michael Whelan returns to one of his most beloved series of personal works. Symbolically, the Passage paintings work on many levels with the most literal as the transition from renowned illustrator to fine artist. There is also a mystical element as passage can mean transition between states of being, from life to what comes after…or in this case movement from a state of wakefulness into the imagined world of dreams. Michael saw the background—the environment—of this painting in a dream, and the winding labyrinth below the figure in flight feels exactly like that, otherworldly. Present is his oft drawn upon symbol of the transparent sphere, his shorthand for human consciousness or what some might call the soul. There’s a playfulness and delight here that feels like pure magic as only Michael Whelan can summon.