Eccentric Square is the fourth in a series of drawings and paintings I have been doing on THE SQUARE since early 1998. My series follows a long tradition aimed at uncovering the essential qualities of the square as a subject for art. Outstanding examples in this tradition are by Kasimir Malevich (Black Square on White, 1913), Johannes Itten (Chromatic Squares, ca. 1919), Piet Mondrian (Composition in Black and White, 1926), Josef Albers (Homage to The Square, 1967), and Franz Kline (Wotan, 1950). Eccentric Square arose in the following way: In looking at one of Cheryl Williams' gold leaf lined prayer bowls located on a table in our living room, I noticed that in the naturally lit room, the gold leaf was much brighter than the white walls of the room. This made me ask the question, perhaps foolishly, what would happen to the brightness of colors if I used the gold leaf as a ground. I proceeded to lay down bands of colors next to one another on the gold leaf ground and compared them to the same on titanium oxide white. Turns out, the brightest color emanated from the titanium oxide white ground. Never-the-less, I proceeded with the work and set off the vertical bands with a square in order to unify them. (Lustrous and frosted gold leaf bands were added later.) I then proceeded to surround the square with horizontal and vertical bands to see if I could build a harmonious image and eventually arrived at the painting which I gave the title, Eccentric Square.