Collages
In my studio practice I utilize collage as a formal element. It provides a way of putting down tone or erasing previous marks. There is a randomness in collage; the secondary meaning in the text or image becomes an important part of the finished work. Collage allows me to layer multiple images over the scaffolding of a drawing. I use materials from the subject's world to create their likeness. This is a modern take on the renaissance trope of putting objects into a portrait to illustrate the attributes of the subject, for example books to show the subject was educated. Instead of illustrating the attributes of the subject with a symbol, as a Renaissance era painter would, I collage the portraits with materials and text from the subject's world.
Paintings
I paint to find out what I think about the world; to discover the things I do not have words for. I savor the slips of the hand that express one’s unconscious feelings about the subject. I am interested in the conversation between abstraction and realism. My paintings explore the tension between what needs to be shown and what does not, the seen and the unseen.