ARTIST STATEMENT
As an
American exploring issues of identity, memory and the passage of time,
I have chosen to paint through a lens from the first American
art movement, The Hudson River School of Landscape Painting, to parallel
the subconsciously romantic eye of a collective American culture. Rather than depicting a site-specific locale, my intent is to evoke
a sense of place inherent within the painting process. These 'inner
landscapes' are invented, and often referenced from photographs taken
during travels. Whether real or imagined, they are infused with the
influence from Dutch Master, Tonalist, and Chinese Painting.
Although produced on a single wooden panel, my ethereal landscapes are often joined with segments
of aqueous color fields which act as commentary for the landscapes, like the chorus in a Greek play. The crisp, hard edges separating the landscapes from the color fields command a sense of order in an otherwise fluid and painterly surface. With two or three sections of the panel competing for attention, the painting creates multiple focal points.
While each painting may have individual meanings, the overall body of work focuses
on notions of memory, identity and
passage of time. The artistic process used to explore these subjects is reflected through the application of paint onto panel. Just as memories
emerge in and out of our sub-consciousness, contorting into surreality,
I paint intuitively, pouring washes over previous layers leaving traces
from an earlier generation peering through a gauze-like screen of
paint. One is confronted by these layers; articulating through painterly abstraction that make no
other reference to an existing place other than an inherent emotional
position inside the psyche.
The paintings are meant to explore levels of meaning
as they connect our personal experiences to a world severely distanced
from our-selves. My interest lies in understanding what is at the
core of human nature- desire, curiosity, love, and hope. It is narrating a personal archeology of the id while simultaneously
relating to other people what is timelessly universal.
