Artist Statement
The act of “making” is an answer to many of my problems. Something I can understand unlike anything else in life. While the work I create does not depict any solutions, nor answer any problems, as I do not have those. But it is honest, ever changing, and constantly in a state of evolution. The result mirrors the process, forever searching for answers.
Control is difficult within works that lean toward the side of abstraction, sometimes having to allow the work to rest in various states of incompleteness. There can be a separation between what the paint has done itself compared to what my hand has guided, so control over a work is found in parts. The main one being, preparation. I enjoy the process of stretching and priming a surface, I have experimented with what that means, unprimed, pre-gessoed, pre-stretched, unstretched, you name it. But, there is a different sense of connection when you have created a work from beginning to end, from parts to presentation.
For a time I veered away from direct figurative work and focused on the relationships between elements and how they fill or alter space. Layering various shapes, lines, colors, and strokes, my work found life. The atmospheres allow for your mind to travel through and identify relationships; interactions. Illusive spaces feel whimsical and untravelled, so I followed their path. Ultimately, it led me right back to figures. This time, with a new approach depicting life with more confidence, and more convincing works as I discover new ways to communicate with natural figures.
Within my current body of work there is a strong focus on communication with as little information necessary to truly capture moments through the universal language of markmaking. Figures in motion through various scenes, some more atmospheric than others as mementos left from works from the past. Others flow into realistic scenarios, highlighting the mundanity of life and the hidden beauty. I intend to continue to teeter the line of abstraction and realism through minimal marks to find how little you truly need to communicate through imagery and still manage to engage my audience.
