2014 Work
As an artist I am interested in exploring the edges and boundaries between realism and abstraction, the material and spiritual, logic and intuition, life and death. How delineated, how permeable, or strong are these edges, these boundaries?
Each work originates from a strong visceral attraction I have to something in the real world. The sources vary: my drawings; photographs (my own, from newspapers, or dance programs); portions of Baroque paintings; or a simple object. Though these images or items are static, I perceive an ineffable power within their structure - the compositions are full of movement, intensity and potential. I attempt to capture this power with a gesture painting - my immediate, direct, and physical response.
The gesture becomes the underlying structure of the work, which I then improvise upon and alter through the addition of various acrylic mediums. I then add a charcoal “wash” over the entire work and begin to subtract or erase portions of the charcoal. This last step is a slower process as I seek and excavate the final composition.
The completed work is something entirely new, as with all art, a transformation has occurred. Each work is my exploration of the boundaries between the real and abstract - an attempt to mine and capture the ineffable from the material world.
