Artist Statement

Layers. Color. Chaos. Intent. If I had to choose the themes around which my art has evolved, it would involve those four words.

I like to alternate between painting feverishly (which I refer to as the Chaos pieces) with a more measured, calculated approach (which I call the Intent pieces).

When creating Chaos pieces I often use a mixed media approach. Favorite elements to add to the canvas are tissue paper and other printed material (magazines, newspapers, books), sewing items (fabric, thread, and appliques), items inspired by nature (real butterflies or honeycombs) and mirrors. I like to work in layers, often working for 3 months or more on one piece. The under-layer is the first to be put on canvas, and it is like the skeleton, which will be covered again and again by layers of paint and material. The bones of the painting are what hold the composition together; without those bones the painting would fall apart, in the same way a human body cannot exist without a skeleton. It is meant to be covered and it belongs solely to its owner. That is how I see my paintings- I create the skeleton, the muscles, the bits that hold it all together, but you can't see it all until you look very closely. The under-layers always show through here and there. Just like with people, you only get to see the underneath by studying intently.

The Intent pieces are created using a two part process. First, an image (either from a photograph I have taken or from a stock image) is scanned and Photoshopped by myself, changing much of its original features, manipulating it as I wish. Secondly, the image is digitally printed onto vinyl, removing the artist from the organic, hands-on, traditional method of art creation. The stripped down original image is then segmented by me, when I draw lines on the canvas to break up the picture plane. From this point, I simply fill in the blanks with color, much like a paint-by-number is done by anyone wanting to create art but needing guidelines and instruction first. Marrying the ideas of technology and high art; but bringing in the notion of novelty and the importance of reproduction, process, and the value of a "fill in the blank" canvas placed in a fine art context.