Artist Statement:
Tending to react to the world around me, my paintings are built from a universally personal journey. My painted collages are layers of images that play off of each other and mood. The images are like memories you think you have neatly tucked away, they emerge and fade in the strangest ways. Natural landscapes, urban landscapes and our man-made mess inspire me. Similar to riparian zones, zones between these places are fragile lines. The fragile lines also exist throughout our days as too many of us walk around on this planet together. I find inspiration in those fragile lines in both our physical world, our social structure and the challenges we all face as we question the way we treat each other and our home planet.
These two paintings are encaustic mixed media. Recently I have been starting the panels with some pyrography on the wood. Followed by layers of … wax, collage, writing, transfers and images all fused together. Along the way they are scraped to excavate previous layers. Then rebuilt. A continuous process until done. The outcome is a buildup of many layers of depth.
I'd say that the last 20 years my art has been much more influenced by music, local artists and access to the internet and all the art it opens you up to. Banksy’s Dismaland and similar projects intrigue the heck out of me. I find myself seeking out art that has layers, pushes our comfort zones, speaks about humanity, society and is presented without the gallery barriers. I am working to keep pushing in that direction.