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a v a i l a b l e w o r k :
ARTIST STATEMENT
"The imagination, by virtue of its own peculiar activity, can make what is familiar into what is strange. With a single poetic detail, the imagination confronts us with a new world. A simple image, if it is new, will open an entire world. If looked at through the thousand windows of fancy, the world is in a constant state of change.”
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
As a painter, my work is essentially about looking. Perception is a dialogue between interior and exterior, the dynamic thread between the seer and the seen. For me, vision is never a cool and detached activity. It is a way to engage with the world, an opening into the many sensations of desire. The need to understand a subject, to “touch” and evoke its physical presence is paramount.
The sense of sight calls upon the entire body in the process of painting. Each subject requires its own set of particular sensitivities. A light-filled field scattered with pumpkins may call for an equal balance between air and earth, substance and space. The eye wants to run its finger across the gilded edge of each sphere, like varied jewels in a dark setting. A bird’s nest packed with eggs demands a feeling for the spin
and gesture of its structure as well as the muffled softness of its interior. The challenge of painting is this constant and fluid call to attention. I believe that observation is an act of reverence, a way to honor the existence of the physical world.
My process is deeply rooted in the long tradition of representational painting. Yet abstraction is always at the heart of a painting’s content. This may mean a particular structure of light, the way a form is revealed or concealed by its context. It might also be the essential gesture of a mark that defines the vitality of the subject. The substance of paint itself is always the most obvious reminder of its own artifice. I am struck by the need for an open and exploratory process each and every time I work. The strange and unpredictable balance of spaces, edges, shapes, and colors keeps the mind open to new solutions. There is never any room for preconception or formulaic solutions. Attention to the subject will require a unique and spontaneous response.
Many of my most recent paintings reflect an involvement with other living things. The endless subtleties and complexities of nature have always fascinated me. Human beings evolved through and with the natural world, and I believe we need to strengthen that tie wherever possible. My work allows me the great pleasure of immersing myself in the beauty of the living world. I am allowed to gaze into its depths, seeking my own emotional reflection. When a painting is successful, the viewer will find a reflection of their own.
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
As a painter, my work is essentially about looking. Perception is a dialogue between interior and exterior, the dynamic thread between the seer and the seen. For me, vision is never a cool and detached activity. It is a way to engage with the world, an opening into the many sensations of desire. The need to understand a subject, to “touch” and evoke its physical presence is paramount.
The sense of sight calls upon the entire body in the process of painting. Each subject requires its own set of particular sensitivities. A light-filled field scattered with pumpkins may call for an equal balance between air and earth, substance and space. The eye wants to run its finger across the gilded edge of each sphere, like varied jewels in a dark setting. A bird’s nest packed with eggs demands a feeling for the spin
and gesture of its structure as well as the muffled softness of its interior. The challenge of painting is this constant and fluid call to attention. I believe that observation is an act of reverence, a way to honor the existence of the physical world.
My process is deeply rooted in the long tradition of representational painting. Yet abstraction is always at the heart of a painting’s content. This may mean a particular structure of light, the way a form is revealed or concealed by its context. It might also be the essential gesture of a mark that defines the vitality of the subject. The substance of paint itself is always the most obvious reminder of its own artifice. I am struck by the need for an open and exploratory process each and every time I work. The strange and unpredictable balance of spaces, edges, shapes, and colors keeps the mind open to new solutions. There is never any room for preconception or formulaic solutions. Attention to the subject will require a unique and spontaneous response.
Many of my most recent paintings reflect an involvement with other living things. The endless subtleties and complexities of nature have always fascinated me. Human beings evolved through and with the natural world, and I believe we need to strengthen that tie wherever possible. My work allows me the great pleasure of immersing myself in the beauty of the living world. I am allowed to gaze into its depths, seeking my own emotional reflection. When a painting is successful, the viewer will find a reflection of their own.
