My creations reflect my interest in the heroic, monumental, solitary figure – alone and at odds or in harmony with themselves and/or the world.
I use a static, timeless, iconic figure played against aggressive handling of my materials to create mysterious and intriguing beings. These images suggest individual narratives and exist as energetic, graphic and powerful mixed medial artifacts.
These figures are, in themselves, symbols with a multitude of traditions, myths, legends, mysteries, iconic meanings, and folklore. I strive to create images that inspire within us a very basic awe and wonder and have the power to fascinate, mystify, behold, trouble, disturb, delight, and inspire. My images are dark and edgy yet beautiful, conceptual yet accessible, and in-your-face yet mysterious. I have always felt compelled to try and access the darker part of myself because I do not have it anywhere else in my life. The darkness of the figures makes them more fascinating, real, and relatable. I choose to confront this darkness of spirit and wrestle it into vivid pictorial expression.
The act of making marks on a surface is a process, a journey filled with exploration and discovery. As always, I search to find a magical balance between the two. The work is an arena of struggle where desire, chance, skill, ideas, media, and surface are all engaged in an interchange, resulting in a collection of marks that reveal the process and ultimately the finished work. The process is one of creating and destroying – searching for the right line, tone, smudge, color and texture.
Each piece tells a narrative of its own making. I use recognizable imagery as a vehicle for emotional expression, underscored by passionate handling of materials. This emotional content gives the figures power and intensity. Working this way allows me to offer a straightforward emotional experience and provide an open-ended narrative for the viewers to explore their own emotions.
In my attempt to depict and stir emotion, I use the mystique of suggestion to depict the figure, not only visually but emotionally, and thus, deepen the mystery.