“Art is many things to me: a refuge, a daily ritual, a medicine for the mind, a vehicle for learning, a secret code, a transporter, a suit of armor, a vulnerable display. Above all, art is an instrument for re-enchanting a disenchanted world. I began exploring art seriously in my early twenties when a painter friend introduced me to modern art movements and figures like Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell, Art Brut, Abstract Expressionism and the “combines” of Robert Rauschenberg. I immediately fell in love with their spirit of play and inventiveness, often disregarding conventions about the materials and aesthetics deemed appropriate to fine art.

My studio practice still draws on these early inspirations focusing on non-objective abstraction, collage and assemblage. Bringing disparate parts and ephemera into dialogue has always interested me. This begins with constant observation of my surroundings, paying particular attention to weathered surfaces and natural decay as they suggest traces of human presence or the inevitable truth of transformation and change. These experiences form the raw bits of memory informing most of my artistic practice manipulating various materials. Rather than a means to an end, the materials I choose to work with become active agents in my work, a way of thinking with things, that condition each piece’s mood and potential meaning to viewers.

Whether I am working on a painting, monoprint, collage or assemblage, I remain focused on producing objects that project a vital and dynamic presence. Exploring color as vital form through texture-building materials is a key component of my artistic practice. As non-objective works my paintings are not conceived around a story or concept. Instead, they are objects defined by a process where form is permitted to evolve in stages building like musical notes or gestures in an improvised dance. This ensures that every day in the studio is a novel experience unhindered by routine or formulaic procedure. The one consistent ritual is constant experimentation.”