I'm a visual artist, poet, novelist and street medic, living in Philadelphia since 1964. I  work in acrylic, water color, pen and ink and woodcut prints, and make from trash I find on the street. I sign my art with my birth name, <em>Willard</em>... in memory of my maternal grandfather who died two weeks before I was born, and out of love and respect for my Uncle, Willard Hardin--who was both big brother and mentor.

When abstract art moves beyond pleasing the eye with color and pattern, it can present the viewer with an enigma, an <em>aporia</em>, that suggests the possibility of symbolic meaning--while denying its realization. If, as I believe, all of our encounters with material reality, are invested with latent symbolic power--by forestalling that power it's emergence lies just out of reach-- where it cannot be translated into language, or interpreted as anything other than what it is---mind, imagination, and perception. By denial of closure, the art will remain radially open, pointing the way toward a truly revolutionary vision

Jacob Russell is my pen name. To my friends and comrades, I am

Goby.
Imagination/Love/Solidarity/Resistance!