Statement of Practice

Prior to becoming a professional artist I taught philosophy. During that time I explored 'relationality' — the philosophical concept of how beings are connected. I examined questions that attempted to make sense of the relationship between self and other such as: Who am I and how am I connected to you, if at all? How is my existence bound to yours? Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, my art work explores these same questions.

My studio practice is heavily process oriented. Rather than beginning with a meaning for a painting, I allow the piece to form before listening to what it wants to mean. Though I’m curious as to what the end result will be, I allow my curiosity to build over the life of the painting. This process is deeply relational. In curating a space for the material and images to take shape, I cultivate a practice of listening and intuitive communication. 

To create dreamy abstracted landscapes, I repurpose mid-twentieth century advertising methods such as tracing and Letraset sheets. Using these and other analogue graphic design techniques like carbon papers and collaged pieces the paintings themselves embody a temporal relationality putting contemporary printed materials in conversation with outmoded techniques. I’m drawn to the typography found in old hand painted signs and newspaper clippings. I use this imagery along with photographs both found and taken to create a surreal visual language. 

Lately I’ve been drawn to the lines found in bridges and buildings. This attraction is a curious thing to me. If I’m to bring these forms into a relationality framework I can extrapolate that bridges perhaps relate to the connections between us, the buildings either representing ourselves or the edifice that contains the relationships we build. That said, rather than ascribing particular meaning to a form I’m more interested in the process of creating a landscape that the viewer can contextualize. 

My process begins by creating a background onto which I can situate a structure – a dilapidated barn, a bridge, a house. This background can be informed by what materials are present at the time I begin or by artwork that I find inspiring. For example, on a recent trip to Chicago I spent time admiring János Megyik’s photograms at the Art Institute. The movement he was able to create using chemical developers reminded me a bit of my backgrounds only his have a much more dynamic almost chaotic feel to them. Inspired by this I challenged myself to create more erratic backgrounds onto which the orderly forms and lines of my bridges and buildings could rest. 

Creating for me is ultimately relationship building – with the materials, the process, and with myself as well as those whose work and techniques inspire me across time.