In his most recent body of work, All the Worlds, Jimmy O’Neal sets a stage for the viewer, gazing into his seductive, mirrored panels, to see themselves reflected – engulfed in his opulent representations of the intangible universe. The sights. . . sounds . . . stories and spirits that have remained unseen …..until now.  O'Neal's paintings reawaken within us a profound memory of mankind's highest aspirations for existence and transcendence.  

Symbolic prosceniums-  or frames - painted around each piece in latex and pearlescent mica are pulled back, revealing the “stage” and the viewer’s immediate casting at its center. O’Neal explores the relationship between form and shadow, often distorted through lenses of “seeing”, be they physical, mental, emotional, or even digital. Is the lens through which we see the world in fact reality, or have we always been seeing mere mirage of real object, much like Plato’s allegory of the cave?  

In today’s society, much of what we perceive as reality has been filtered, distorted, and confined to fit into a frame. In this digital age, there is a new alternative reality of perception and experience. Perhaps, we are all a part of a larger simulation and it begs the question – what, if anything, do you know to be true except for this very moment from your exact position.