(aka: why I need a professional writer. aka: why I make visual art)

Tell us a little about yourself and what it is that you create..

Spatial awareness has always been first nature for me. I enjoy travel, navigation, and the negotiations between physical self and space. The perception of any given thing in my visual landscape is underpinned by its relation (real or implied) to the whole. I create relationships between disparate visual elements that have both tension and harmony in them. I create navigable spaces for my viewer’s imagination. I use the harder-edged visual languages of design, illustration, and drafting to evoke a more nuanced subject—a total sense more than a specific thing.

Why do you create? What inspires your work? 

I create because I’m grateful for the ideas art has offered me and I feel compelled to reciprocate that generosity in the way I can. I’m a visual artist because it’s the best vehicle I have found for expressing my ideas. I’m less concerned with the specificity of object or message than with the way a series of objects visually interact in unison. I enjoy the reductive aspect of abstraction and the weaving of many thoughts and sensory threads into a whole expression. My work is rooted in a sense of unity in multiplicity. I find that the artwork that motivates me to create is faceted, serial, repetitive, complex, and visually in motion. My work is inspired by a desire to communicate a series of relationships that inform a greater whole; a concert. What moves me in art is being invited to derive a personal meaning rather than being told something specific. I gravitate towards abstract work because I feel that it’s more emotionally informative.

What’s your process? Tell us about what you do (in 100 words or less)

My work generally begins with drawing on paper. I often incorporate serigraphed work as a starting point for drawing. I avoid preempting my process and seldom have a vision of the end result. I use drawing, printing, painting, stenciling, and collage. Once I have a set of marks established, I laminate the work on paper to wood panel to stabilize the surface. This allows me to then use more layers of wet media to develop the image. I feel that a given work is done when it has it’s own pulse, voice, and disposition. 

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