Artist's Statement
My paintings depict an individual’s psychological relationship with their environment. They assert that the very fabric of subjective reality can be altered through the act of perception. Environments that are part of a collective consciousness are represented. Commonplace things take on mysterious, symbolic, and even cosmic significance. I aim to reinvent the world, not falsely, only truer to my own senses and imaginings.
I rely upon my surroundings to present me with source material in unexpected ways. The photographs I work from are of pre-existing scenes or surfaces in the world. Cropping an original image, creating multiple exposures, or collaging images becomes a way of sifting through the original raw material. Translation enhances the material, as opposed to its usual function of degradation. This process allows for a rich variety of images that would be impossible to achieve through a more deliberate approach.
All of the images combine elements of photo-realism, collage, and the abstract. This amalgamation presents a union of actual and inferred reality. Objects stand in as other objects: A light becomes a window, cups become the sun and moon, water on a surface becomes a mountain, or algae becomes a disintegrating floor. Depth is both suggested with perspectival lines and denied with flat surfaces. Neither reality ultimately triumphs, yielding a duality of image that sustains a more complex reading.
Another theme that is evident in my work is a fascination with light. Its effects are as much a subject as anything else. The source of light is the source of perception. Often there is the sense that, without a light source, nothing would be visible on the canvas. This is true of visible light sources, as well as ones that may lie outside the borders of the image, making their presence felt by aura or reflection. In many images there are multiple, different colored light sources present. They vie for attention and control over objects present, calling into question the true source or interpretation of the image.
Other Writings
A Tangential Manifesto (PDF)- A true short story about my past that ended up as a sort of artist's statement.
Rock in the Art World (PDF)- A review of Sufjan Stevens' album "Illinoise".
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