Artist Statement
My painting process begins with ordinary people or objects. While maintaining familiar proportions, shapes, and perspective, I transform the subjects into flat, gestural abstractions. The textured backgrounds of white or ochre remove the figures from their representational environments giving them a symbolic quality. Using shadow and light forms with minimal details, I reduce the figures to universal shapes and gestures.
I bring drawing technique to the painting process as I scribe into the wet paint using charcoal, pigment sticks, liner brushes, and paintbrush handles. I mix dry pigment with paint and embed coarse chunks of charcoal into the surface. The earthiness of the raw materials and rustic application is accentuated by the use of mineral-based pigments such as iron oxides and cobalt. By representing familiar objects as reduced shapes, I encourage the viewer to pay more attention to the geometry, shape, and mystery of the world around us.