artist statement

“MY CURRENT WORK AS A fine artist IS MY MOST REWARDING and exciting CHALLENGE TO DATE."

In addition to my love of the arts, I have been fascinated with the sciences since I was a child and still cannot fully fathom the fact that we live on a planet that has such a myriad of colorful species and life forms. I am intrigued by the ways in which we perceive the world around us, limited by our five senses and defined by our own particular DNA. My two favorite themes for exploration in my work are: 1) the phenomenon of recall, memories and how we process dreams and 2) the invisible forces of nature, specifically those forces that we can only detect through instrumentation (for example, what if we could "see" sound waves, the forces of gravity, a static charge, microscopic particles... the list is endless!)

My medium of choice is acrylic paint as its quick drying time affords me the level of spontaneity that I am most comfortable with. In addition to applying paint with brushes, I use a variety of other materials such as palette knives, pieces of cardboard, squeegees, wax paper, etc. My tools of choice to make marks are acrylic paint markers of varying sizes, colors and shapes. I also use various scraping tools to remove the surface layers of paint to create marks. My compositions are spatial environments that explore the relationships between shape, color, movement and rhythm. Dramatic and thickly applied brush strokes create a rhythm of emerging forms. Vibrant colors contrast with more subtle tones and the brush strokes vary both in thickness, structure, size and direction. I add and subtract many layers as a painting evolves, working with both opaque and translucent mediums to reveal the previous layers underneath in either a blatant or subtle way.

Inspiration could come from anywhere, as either a visual cue or an idea. I find color to be, in and of itself, hugely inspirational. Color inspiration could come from a juxtaposition of colorful towels in a store, from an old dilapidated building at dusk or the pattern of light reflecting from a puddle of water in the street. Or inspiration could come from a fascinating article about space exploration. My current work as a fine artist is primarily the result of an inherent need to paint, as painting is both a major form of stress relief and my most exciting and rewarding challenge to date.

I hope to create a visual and emotional experience for the viewer that elicits a meaningful and positive connection. I am fascinated by the ways in which abstraction allows a person to interpret a painting from their own point of view and seeing that connection happen is one of the highlights of being an abstract artist!