Artist Statement, in Four Acts
Act 1: I seek -
(the discovery)
Deep meaning exists for me when people come together and create something purposeful and beautiful with their hands. I seek to find places and people that are eager to share in a mutual exchange. I seek those who think big and see a given set of variables as an opportunity to explore and invent. I seek out stories, for the power of narrative guides our lives.
Act 2: I absorb -
(the exchange)
Who defines the identity of a place? Is it individual community members? Or is it something more amorphous - a collective voice? I am fascinated by the fluid relationship between one and the many. For this reason, I engage directly with community members throughout all stages of my creative practice. For me, looking, listening, sharing, and collaborating are inseparable from the paint, the place, and the form.
Act 3: I create -
(the transformation)
It is on the exterior wall of a building where public and private spaces collide. It is on our streets where shadows reveal intimate details. I collaboratively create mega-scale public work where intricate and classical designs shed familiar and beautiful light on our contemporary surroundings. A painter at heart, I find depth in the surface. I strive to render the pre-existing narrative of a place and its people in a dynamic and invigorating manner. In service of this goal, I tend toward multipart compositions, representational depiction, and narrative symbolism. My work is a synthesis of built and cultural landscapes, specific to each site.
Act 4: I share the story -
(the inspiration)
My drive is to create work that will be made and viewed with others, work that will provide interventions in peoples’ daily lives. Though I seek to delight and inspire, most fundamentally, my works provide an opportunity for an open-ended engagement. Each installation both simulates and stimulates its locale, prompting participants and viewers to connect with their past, present, and future surroundings.