Artist Statement

The starting point for my current paintings is fabric found in thrift stores or on the street. The fabric is then arranged on 3-dimensional constructions. Looking at these constructions, I craft carefully considered paintings with a slow, painstaking execution that reverses the process of mechanical reproduction.

Looking at the same fabric I have also begun a series of works on paper, primarily in gouache. Although covering similar territory, these works, made with greater speed, are more exploratory. Individually they are often, but not always, more abstract. As a group, they have been a way to start expanding the parameters for my work as a whole.

The conceptual and structural qualities of the original pattern are the initial organizational forces of my work. Formal devices such as flattened space, implied depth, different uses of light, and extreme detail, as well as disruption of the pattern, are used to modify the images, and ultimately, their meanings. The overall intent – starting with unassuming subject matter – is to produce analytical work that is balanced between abstraction and representation, while creating a new space for order and sensuality to meet.