Artist Statement
My paintings express emotions connected to particular experiences in time. These experiences are often linked to location, and the associated memories of a place. Life plays out in the landscape--wherever we are, whatever we are doing, it happens somewhere. Observations of these locations leave imprints on the mind: colors, feelings, sounds, memories, history. Instead of painting the landscape only as I see it, I paint what I have internalized in relation to a place. This changes over time. Beauty can be both resplendent and a anxiety-inducing reminder of time running out, like wilting flowers in a Dutch still-life. What we see is never the whole story; there is always context to consider.
Through my own visual language, subconscious narratives emerge in my paintings. For me, the act of painting conjures up feelings and in turn, the memories or ideas associated with those feelings. A pink, gestural brushstroke might reference hats worn by women marching in Pershing Square, and all the dynamics of American politics. The organic shape of a sunflower petal may lead to thoughts of Hyperion--father of Helios (the Sun) and a street in Silver Lake. There are multiple levels of reality: the visual surface of the painting--its formal attributes of colors, shapes, textures; the emotional response elicited by the painting; and the thoughts and memories conceived in the mind in response to those emotions.
More than anything else, painting for me is about possibility. I find that the most meaningful experiences come in moments of quiet contemplation. It is in that kind of headspace that I create my work, and it is a deliberate choice I make to continue painting in an age of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. For me, and I hope for those who view my work, painting is an opportunity for reflection, a chance to center oneself and tap into a deeper state of clarity.
My paintings express emotions connected to particular experiences in time. These experiences are often linked to location, and the associated memories of a place. Life plays out in the landscape--wherever we are, whatever we are doing, it happens somewhere. Observations of these locations leave imprints on the mind: colors, feelings, sounds, memories, history. Instead of painting the landscape only as I see it, I paint what I have internalized in relation to a place. This changes over time. Beauty can be both resplendent and a anxiety-inducing reminder of time running out, like wilting flowers in a Dutch still-life. What we see is never the whole story; there is always context to consider.
Through my own visual language, subconscious narratives emerge in my paintings. For me, the act of painting conjures up feelings and in turn, the memories or ideas associated with those feelings. A pink, gestural brushstroke might reference hats worn by women marching in Pershing Square, and all the dynamics of American politics. The organic shape of a sunflower petal may lead to thoughts of Hyperion--father of Helios (the Sun) and a street in Silver Lake. There are multiple levels of reality: the visual surface of the painting--its formal attributes of colors, shapes, textures; the emotional response elicited by the painting; and the thoughts and memories conceived in the mind in response to those emotions.
More than anything else, painting for me is about possibility. I find that the most meaningful experiences come in moments of quiet contemplation. It is in that kind of headspace that I create my work, and it is a deliberate choice I make to continue painting in an age of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. For me, and I hope for those who view my work, painting is an opportunity for reflection, a chance to center oneself and tap into a deeper state of clarity.