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During my early childhood years I explored the world through mixed media collage, and recall my fascination with arranging torn geometric shapes of paper into abstract configurations. The compositions were simple at first, however they later took on a sense of depth and richness as I obscured them through the addition of paint and layers of transparent paper. Through this intuitive layering process, the initial architectonic structures would often end up looking quite ethereal and mystical in nature. Perhaps these qualities were a result of the countless hours I spent playing out-of-doors, which lead to my fascination with the changes that take place in nature over time and distance. Years later, as a perceptual painter, I find that my strongest work emerges when fragments from these formative years naturally mesh with the present. Through this natural process, I hope art emerges that poses more questions than provides answers. I'm drawn to subjects that blur the boundaries between the familiar and the unconventional, and believe that there still exists opportunities for a genuine painterly expression that merges modern art discoveries with the framework of the classical aesthetic. 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. |