Artist Statement

For the past six years I’ve been making paintings that could be categorized as hard edge semi-abstraction. I make some marks on a surface and start working into it. I work intuitively and one decision determines the next. There’s a range of references ranging from cartoons to popular culture, fairy tales, literature, art history, advertising and politics. Somehow, references to human form (be it head or parts of the body) usually find their way into the work in ways that seem clearly readable to me.

I’ve been adamant about making small works because I think the small scale has political as well as stylistic implications. I want to make a strong impact in a small format.

The area I straddle as an artist lies between whimsy and dread. My paintings address issues of our current life with all its anxiety, uncertainty, beauty and terror - but also with humor and some distance. They do that because I’m always thinking of these things as I make art, and inevitably some of my feelings surface in the work.

At some point, while working, I realize what each painting is about and that usually determines what my title will be and how I want to finish the piece. I love how abstract shapes can evoke narrative meaning. The final version of each painting is a personal response obtained intuitively when I feel that a strong visual composition has been achieved.