Artist Statement

        I paint people, their emotions, integrity and contemplative moments.  The work employs figurative drawing, and painting, to depict my interpretation of philosophy, fantasy, and lived experience.   Because I believe art is a valid part of culture making, I use painting to make meaningful aesthetic judgments about the people occupying the cultures I live and work in.  Painting is my way to be critically aware, to sift through mediated culture, hoping to reveal the celebratory affects, limitless possibilities, or the destructive aftermath of society's systematization.  I follow the traditions of the Dutch Golden Age painters, depicting figures in thier natural lived in environments, through to the intense psychological study of Lucien Freud's portraits.  Using a limited palette and a combined technique of layering with direct painting approaches, I seek to draw from my subject a multi-dimensional reflection of humanity.  At first, my subject reveals its immediate place and time, yet it simultaneously contains the convergent associations brought to its signifiers by the viewer. 
     
 
     For over 10 years the figure has been a central subject represented in my work. I trust the interpretation of the lived experience, which figurative art is, can have positive effects on society.  Having traveled through many cultural conduits, which converge upon the fine arts, I have gained an understanding of various approaches and reasons for art making. My work is the culmination of these experiences. I feel it is important to be aware of the grand tradition and formal promise of painting.  Equally important is to be aware of the social paradigm of the art world.  My work is an attempt to engage these dignified concepts.