My paintings are groupings of thoughts—evaluated, examined, and checked-off. In my practice, the acts of brushing, wiping, abstracting, and isolating parts of space correspond to the ability to question identity and experience. I began painting landscapes and figures, searching for personal meaning within representational narrative. However, I found that only through abstract forms could I fully confront questions of identity and history. The act of making—of marking—became the narrative.
Space and surface, made of distinct marks, signify the presence of experience—both past and present, intimate and expansive. Sets of marks—episodes—which are lodged in the surrounding ground, may stand alone in a vast open area of space, or may thrive off of neighboring episodes. These marks are growing out of, driven away from, or covered up by layers of white or black. The layers are veils used to isolate relationships and clarify questions. Throughout each work, the application of layers represents a history that is uncovered. My interaction with each painting is signified by personal growth, as I scratch away the top layers to reveal the past.
The movement of single marks inside the picture plane space engages the whole as a collision point between the expansive and the definite; and the white or black space of the picture is equally important to the episode, because it stands as the beginning.
Space and form create a geographic and chronologic language; the paintings may resemble topographical maps, moss diagrams, or sky charts. The work also may suggest a type of biological study, chaotic climate changes, and the realization of our present-day fear concerning catastrophe. Ultimately, my paintings capture a symbiosis of time, place, experience and memory—personal and universal.
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