Artist's Statement
My paintings are paradoxical mappings of a world that is at once subtle and aggressive. In them, cryptic structural markings, diagrammatic notations, architectural rhythms become a language that both reveals and conceals meaning. It imbues something that is essentially abstract with a historical and narrative framework that communicates without being literal.
The work is composed of oil paint mixtures, graphite, pastel which interact on the clay surface of each panel. The face of each painting is a delicate skin that is stripped away to expose references to sheaths of wheat, Venetian walls, the darkness of a Giotto red. This collection of partially sanded, translucent layers, applied in unpredictable marks, drips and pourings, creates an atmosphere of anticipation – the moment right before action. The simultaneity of appearance and dissolve is an ode to the fusion of time and memory.
…As a thing the way is
Shadowy indistinct,
Indistinct and shadowy
Yet within it is an image
Shadowy and indistinct,
Yet within it is a substance
Dim and dark,
Yet within it is an essence…
XXI Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu