Artist Statement

Have you ever felt the thick, heavy, opacity of grief? What about a bright, shiny layer of gratitude? Painting is the language I use to process and understand the raw physical and emotional experiences I feel and observe. 

Color and texture have always impacted me in a physical way. Through my work, I seek to connect with my viewer on this visceral level.

Exploration and manipulation of materials challenges my instincts for control of my inner landscape. My process begins with building the panels I paint on. My background in fine craft - ceramics, metalsmithing, and woodworking, continues to influence me. The materiality of building objects is satisfied in this step. The painting involves a lot of time on my palette, mixing colors and mediums.  I continue by responding to and tempering the colors and textures as they build. I use a variety of tools to apply paint and often paint with my hands. This tactile exploration appeals to my senses and is often cathartic.

I have a fascination with the residue of my painting practice. I collect jars of palette scrapings and boxes of paint stained sweatshirts. It is the record of my time in the studio and I hoard the remains like treasure. This the messy evidence of what really happens in the studio counter to the cleaned up version, the paintings, I present to the world.