Artist Statement
My paintings and drawings address uncanny scenarios where characters engage themselves and one another with sincerity and purpose. Moments of desire, self-reflection, and lack of control motivate postures filled with bravado and vulnerability.
The figures in my paintings make rote attempts to connect both physically and psychologically as their gestures are echoed and amplified by their environment. They have strong inclinations toward action yet limited mobility. They find themselves absorbed by their own thoughts and yet compelled to engage with their surroundings. They are filled with a sense of impending doom and still uncertain of their purpose. As these characters acknowledge the absurdity of their circumstances they respond distinctly with behaviors that reflect their will and needs. Some are distracted by the task at hand. Some ask questions and observe closely. Some assess the current conditions and look for a way out.
By arranging figures as armatures for hanging line and color, my paintings construct scenarios in which subjects behave both as backdrops and participants, observers and actors. Adjacent structures of shape and line advance an overall sensation of motion, depth, and atmosphere. Flatness and the illusion of depth collapse as these characters make fruitless attempts to exit the frame.
