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A Brief Explanation Of My Work If you want to understand my paintings, you must first understand my point of view on art in general and what it is that constitutes interesting work. A work of art is only as interesting as the conversation it generates. As simple as it sounds, this stance has afforded me the opportunity to look for and appreciate art that doesn't necessarily look like art and to make work that doesn't necessarily look or operate in the same way paintings look or operate from a more traditional point of view. When I was a beginner painter, one of my goals was to create pictures that had a certain amount of visual panache. Whether it be a figurative painting or an abstract painting, I wanted the viewer's eye dancing from one part of the picture to another part and back again. One could say that I wanted the formal elements of the painting conversing with one another the way notes in a tune converse with one another to create a melody. I've been painting for many years now and all of this is still true. Although the formal elements of a work or a group of works now serve primarily as entry points into a larger non-linear narrative about the process of making itself. Each picture I make is connected to a previous picture and also to a picture not yet made and possibly to a poem or some other piece of writing that I have written. Each picture I make is a form of ordering/cataloging my thoughts, emotions, and perceptions. The type of color I am after in my work is based on intuitive decision making and discovery. One could say that I'm after a certain kind of feeling that can't be put into words (because if it could be put into words it would have no business being put into a painting). I use geometric shapes because geometry is the language of order and I am an orderly person. The chaos in and of the world frightens me and compels me to do my best in ordering the things around me. My work is filled with skepticism and doubt and I'm not afraid to poke fun at my own stupidity or the stupidity of others or the absurdity of trying to make paintings in a world that doesn't care if you make paintings or eat dog shit. My process of making is akin to that of a detective. In order to solve the riddles I create for myself, I must uncover and be sensitive to clues as I go along. My process of making paintings has evolved to the point where I need to make notes on the backsides of my canvases before I begin so that I have a specific plan/strategy to follow as I go along. Sometimes I follow the map and other times I prefer getting lost. I always end up someplace interesting as long as I get to the studio and have money to buy paints. | |