Artist Statement
As a painter I enjoy creating organic abstract shapes and patterns. My work functions as a meditative practice where I respond to previous marks with formal design elements. I layer these elements onto amorphous, shaped wood panels with a variety of painting and drawing mediums.
Throughout the process of creating, I use the patterns of the wood grain to inspire colorful lines, marks, and patterns I produce. My use of bright colors becomes a dialogue between what is perceived as natural or organic, and what is known to be manufactured.
Conceptually, my use of varying patterns, rhythms, symmetries, and colors reflects the similarities that can be observed between all things. Look at the way rivers and streams flow through the earth, and one might see the veins in our body and roots of a tree. Observe clay cracks, and it conjures in the mind the way sunlight shines between leaves, and even similarities to the delicate wrinkles in skin.
These similarities between different yet ever connected parallels in nature repeat and morph in response to each other. What is known to be natural and organic can also be considered “manufactured” by nature, while manufactured things can at their most basic levels be broken down to elements which occur naturally.
Ultimately, I am interested in the viewer being given similar opportunities to meditate on these ideas and consider how interconnected we are with nature and each other, no matter how manufactured and separate our lives may seem.
