Statement

Comparable to a cathartic confessional, painting is the medium I use to sort my thoughts, work through life’s enigmas and illustrate experiences. My work deconstructs and creates figurative collaged symbols while incorporating narrative codes. Painting in layers, with acrylics, gouache, watercolor, inks, and pencil on illustration board or canvas, sets the stage for revealing the details behind the messages and spatters of images in my mind’s eye. These symbols, which are pushed and pulled from human experience, nature, and myth, reveal themselves to me as I actualize these organic visions during the developmental stages of a work. The meaning or “message” of these visions and their associations are not always clear to me until the painting is near to, or has reached, completion. Thematically, the interplay of opposing forces weaves through much of my work. A bright palette and suggestive imagery are used to arouse curiosity and sometimes disarm the viewer. Through these works, I invite the viewer to look deeper for substance and connections, and seek relationship to the work through their own life story, experiences and world view.