The purpose of this series is to highlight the beauty in the ignored and disregarded elements that surround us in city life. Although this series was inspired by my surroundings in San Francisco, the paintings are intended to transcend a specific time or place. Since moving to San Francisco, I have completely fallen in love with city living. I walk along the city streets for my daily commute. I travel everywhere from the Haight to the Castro to the Mission to Civic Center to the Financial District to SOMA to Chinatown and all the way to North Beach. I am always immensely focused on the textures, patina, grunge, decay, bumps and curves that emphasize the history of the architectural structures surrounding us.  And yet, many city dwellers seem not to notice the beauty in the decay surrounding them. Another prime element that surrounds me on every step of my walks in the city are pigeons. Unlike us, pigeons seem to be very in touch and aware of their environment. Pigeons inhabit every city in the world, hiding in plain sight on lamp posts, in building alcoves, on fountains and even on parking meters. These throwaway birds that are likewise ignored and disregarded, find refuge on these taken for granted structures that surround us. By utilizing the city as their personal playground, these “rats of the sky” cause even more damage, decay and wear on the city that provides them their only shelter.  But alternatively, one could argue by utilizing these structures, pigeons honor the architecture more than we do. This series of paintings is the study of the dichotomy between these disparate views.

My pieces are colorful forms influenced by my interest in patterns, geometric shapes and shadows...graphic...yet free flowing...creating three dimensional feelings through the use of bright acrylic paints, epoxy, chunky textures, glass, paper, sand, nails, metal and smooth as felt finishes.

I am interested in making sensory, evocative paintings. Guided by instinct and sensation I explore the language of color, its formal and emotional qualities. Irresistibly drawn to the luscious physicality of the paint, I employ a super-saturated palette, smooth glossy texture and fluid movement wherein the formal elements yield to the sensuous nature of the composition.

The work is process driven, a tricky balance of intention versus chance. It is an experiment in mark-making: between the unpredictable behavior of the materials and the idiosyncrasies of my gesture. The nature of the medium necessitates all decisions be made in the moment.  Through a spontaneous application, I puddle, pour and flow the loopy swirls, pools, drips and strands of color across a flat surface. Continuing the investigation, I wait to see if and how the paint will respond.

These pieces are simultaneously awkward and alluring, imprecise and slick. In them, I seek to create an ambiguous situation where familiar yet elusive biomorphic forms both imply and defy a narrative. And so, allowing a space for the work to continue unfolding beyond the initial visceral experience.

Emulating Nature: Color and form becoming. Endlessly evolving...

I am interested in exploring the relationship between what is felt and what is known about the reality we occupy.  To depict that space where science and myth, intuition and fact overlap. These paintings are based on observations of nature and meant to touch on that intuitive sense that we are all made of the same stuff. Constantly transitioning in an endless cycle.

My process is to use surface and color to play out natures process of creation and evolution, its continual transference of energy, on the canvas. Each painting is a unique geography that takes on a shape of it’s own through palette, solid color spaces, dripping paint, and texture, blurring the lines between painting and sculpture.

“I don't paint anymore, I explore.”

Autobiographical in its nature, my artwork is the tangible result of emotional responses to philosophical investigations.  The images arise as I challenge myself to gain a better understanding of myself through addressing and re-evaluating core values and beliefs.  While seeking out personal truths I confront the unanswerable questions of human existence and attempt to come to terms with the reality of life's impermanence.

As I sifted through piles of old sketch books, I came across a watercolor of Hulk Hogan I painted when I was nine years old. This crude painting had me thinking about my childhood, and my childhood heroes. It reminded me of dressing up in a cape, building a ring out of a mattress and pillows, and pretending I was the Macho Man himself. These memories led to my recent purchase of Wrestlemania III, which sparked my current obsession and the beginning of my new series of paintings. 

Viewing wrestling videos and documentaries first inspired me to celebrate and monumentalize those icons of my childhood in paint, but as I actually started painting more was exposed. Those characters of low brow entertainment were being painted into a world of high brow art stroke by stroke. The ideas of nostalgia, pop culture, and investigating subcultures fascinated me. I realized Wrestlemania may have been one of the first reality TV shows ever. An engineered drama that one does not watch for sport, but for the spectacle. Each character from the 1980's WWF plays a role, has a guise, and a unique persona. These actors were the players in my childhood drama, one which coincidentally is a perfect marriage of personal experience and my current artistic sensibilities.    

 This body of work is from a continuing series based on recontextualizing information.  In our current web-inflamed age, there is a level of over-saturation with the availability of information and images.  I experiment with ways to reorganize and reinterpret found imagery.  My agenda is purely aesthetic. There is beauty in charts, graphs, and other visual detritus that accumulates. My goal is for this informational detritus to take on new roles based on contexts and juxtapositions.

Hello, Please email me if you are interested in my work to set up a studio visit. Thanks!