I begin a painting with a line that conveys form, emotion, and meaning to a blank surface. I conceive of these initial lines as expressive, and I give them visual substance by marking them on either side with points of color. As I work, the lines on my canvases become larger forms as they are continuously added to. Eventually they fill up the canvas.
As conceived in the human mind, a line consists of points. I use that concept, adding a sensibility that comes from the awareness of the structural qualities of a line. As the line is given substance, it grows and expands across the canvas, becoming a dynamic whole. This style produces a rich, shallow space, akin to the surface of back of the eye. One could also think of the space created as a map--a place in itself, where the mind can rest, be stimulated, and dream.
The beginning of the pandemic brought a new focus to my painting. I eliminated the figure-ground relationship that I had used up until that time, and I began using a repetitive shape which I overlapped across the canvas. This treats the canvas as a skin. It gives substance to both the lines of composition and the surface of the canvas.
I think of the marks that I use in making a painting, as I draw them, as revealing the history of the painting’s formation. The lines seem to grow in front of me. As I add to a line, the painting reveals the stratification of its own creation. Old Master portraits would freeze a moment in a person's life for eternity. I take a moment of eternity and freeze that moment with the mark I make at that time, creating a painted image on a canvas.
Influenced greatly by Einstein's theory of relativity, Cubist artists of the early 20th century explored changes in their relationship to objects and artistic forms. According to relativity theory, all objects have their own space-time and can be construed as having a multi-dimensional existence beyond the third dimension. Cubist art work expressed this in multifaceted ways. As the modern world's understanding of the universe and the realities contained within it continue to be debated, artists’ imaginations rise to the task. The very nature of truth comes into play as scientific instruments reveal the workings of quantum mechanics, black holes, and dark matter. What is being revealed is the very nature of our conscious interaction with the material world. What do we see when we look? How do we form our understanding?
The best way to view my work is to live with a painting and allow its aura to fill a room. Its presence will change the light in the room and the painting will engage a viewer’s mind, body, and intuitive sense. The more a viewer looks at a painting, the more they notice, until it becomes a memorable part of their experience. My paintings do not rely on language, imagery, or storytelling for their significance. They reveal a process of seeing which uses constructs of the mind to present paintings of universal appeal.
I very much enjoy working with color. I like to experience the interactions of colors and observe the discrepancy between their physical and psychic effects. It seems to me that vision and colors highlight the relativity of our sensory experiences. Light, as it plays upon the eyes, is always changing. It is never fixed and, at times, reveals its fluidity. The light and colors before us can be anything from beautiful to terrifying. The art of color utilizes these qualities in its expression. I bring my enthusiasm to the arts of drawing and painting and I enjoy creating artwork that expresses the vitality that life holds.