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Artist Statement

Painting has the potential to reveal the extraordinary within the mundane and overlooked. Through the use of metaphor, I often incorporate various social and political issues through diverse still life forms that are connected with both our consumer-driven culture and natural environment. Quirky associations, involving the machine, brand identity, food, monetary currency and nature, may serve as icons of consumerism, invoke hunger, or question the duality of nature and the machine. I'm drawn to the transformative qualities of these objects. A single object may speak of spiritual stillness and timelessness, or engage the viewer in a very different dialogue when combined with other elements. Painting that merges modern art discoveries with a classical aesthetic, often pushes me toward subjects that blur the boundaries between the familiar and the unconventional.

As a child I explored the world through collage, and was fascinated with how geometric shapes of paper could be assembled into abstract configurations. The compositions were simple at first, however later took on a sense of depth and richness as other materials were added to obscure forms. The collages often ended up looking quite mystical, which may have been a result of countless hours spent out-of-doors, and my fascination with the changes that took place in nature over time and distance. Now as a perceptual painter, I find that my strongest work emerges when elements from these formative years mesh with the present, resulting in art that may pose more questions than provide answers.


Artist Philosophy
There are many things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited by a mere penny? If you follow one arrow, if you crouch motionless on a bank to watch a tremulous ripple thrill on the water and are rewarded by the sight of a muskrat paddling from its den, will you count that sight a chip of copper only, and go on your rueful way? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get.

Annie Dillard from "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."