Totem--Lyrical Abstract Paintings

Now through November, The Westlake Porter Public Library is proud to host a free exhibit of the paintings by David Noss. Proceeds benefit the WPPL. Free Parking.

The pieces in this show align with Lyrical Abstraction: gestural marks, layered textures, and a focus on inner states conveyed through color and form. The paintings rely on the viewers’ response to layered, subtle patterns of color that evoke motion and memory.

The Totem framework serves as a metaphor rather than a literal ethnographic representation, honoring the complexity and diversity of Indigenous Totemic traditions centering on universal philosophical inquiry.

These paintings weave the idea of traditional Totem with contemporary materials and philosophical reflections. They are vertically composed exploring how beliefs, values, and stories rise from everyday life intertwining ancestral wisdom and build on modern intuition.

As with Native Totems, the paintings generally represent guiding principles rather than specifics. Principles of Courage, Compassion, Truth, Balance, Creativity dominate the narrative. Generally, each painting represents these principles in an abstracted and non-stylized fashion. And, by avoiding literal ethnographic reference, the paintings allow for universal interpretation.