Statement

My paintings and prints are representational images resulting from an exploration of my environment and subjects that have personal meaning for me as an artist. This approach has provided me with a number of challenges. One is the focus on something specific. The second challenge is that of the specific issues of representation such as creating tension between objects in an orchestrated and ambiguous two-dimensional space. The third challenge is that of creating a visually expressive work utilizing the formalist elements and principles of art that are at the root of all visual form.

Out of my experiences, I have developed a greater awareness of my environment and the transitions of change that take place in it. In the landscape, the changing of light and shadow is very quick. Color subtleties and relationships cannot be manufactured in the studio. I have reinforced my belief that art is clearly based on one's personal response to the world and not simply a product manufactured independently of one's world. My process involves going out on location and making drawings, oil studies and photographs. This is the research aspect of my work. In my non-landscape based work, sketches and photographs are also used to develop ideas. Back in the studio, I use these source materials to develop my final compositions into the paintings. The final painting process involves completing a strong under-painting in black and white, laying in a ground tone, and building the paint layers while retaining as much spontaneity as possible.

 

The selections I make are chosen because of an affinity I have to the shapes and forms that interest me. There is little doubt in my mind that I am having this affinity because of personal experiences that I go through and that these intuitive selections are allowing me to express these ideas. The themes that dominate my work are speed, confrontation, crossing borders, transitions, compression, isolation, reflection, fear, and collision.

In turning to representation, I have attempted to retain the strengths of my earlier abstract works. This includes a free gestural and liberal handling of the paint. The physicality and richness of oil paint are two inherent qualities that the medium offers and I wish to exploit them to their fullest extent. A formalist concern that naturally seems to run through my work is the contrast of the geometric and the organic. This concern, while at first is seemingly simplistic, is the basic construct that creates the elements of opposition in my work. Whether it is a gestural brush mark colliding with a tree, or a dappled reflected light contrasted against aggressively sweeping concrete, it is a basic organic-geometric opposition. I have continued to deal with issues of space and the dynamics it has to offer in terms of illusionary depth within the picture plane. I also continue to search for a personal, convincing, and surprising color that is effective in delivering an emotional punch. Mystery, monumentality, and ambiguity continue to be ongoing elements in my work.