Through the Window, 2024
44 x 44, Acrylic, markers, oil pastels, pencil and fabric on canvas
Threads of thought between body, a space and time in Studio 206
Focus on Raising the Child, 2024
8’9” x 20’ x 8’10”, String, yarn, fabric, steel, poured acrylic paint, Hawaiian black lava salt, rice paper sheets, and colored sand
My installation explores the present state of American discourse, consciousness, and my experience with contemporary culture.
“Focus on Raising the Child” is a return to my ideas of reflection, personal insight, and resolution. Contained in the corridor is the riddle of the murmurs of the pathway. Corridors present an interesting dilemma in which there are two entrances, and two exits, which can create transformation and an internal discussion. I am often drawn to the enigma and the opportunity to consider this unique architectural pathway to resolve the answers I am struggling to discover. Separated by the space in between, the two walls of a corridor usually appear fixed or static. Here the walls are marginally broken, nonlinear, suggesting a fragmentation or a shift in the foundation. But at their foundation, they are sturdy and resolute, communicating and connecting through the strands of light and shadows on the floor and strands of reflective poured paint within.
The undulating strings represent a national consciousness and conversations of an unsettled nation, full of pessimism and anxiety. Although the strings appear to hang in isolation, upon close inspection, they are simultaneously entangled, sharing a common journey and destiny towards healing instilled in the meditative base.
The sculpture at the base and the use of black lava salt mimics a natural physical process and transformation. Salt has long been considered to possess healing properties in both Eastern and Western cultures. Here the black lava salt envelops the thoughts, creating a place of mediation, which flows towards a place of resolution and repose.
What question am I trying to ask the viewer? None. The installation is my effort to resolve my own personal anxiety and trying to process or resolve the current state of contemporary American culture. For me, raising a child is an unending and dutiful endeavor. If a child is cleaning a window, I do not want them fall off the ledge. Pay attention.
It's My Party and They Can Cry If They Want to, 2023
60 x 60, Glass vessels, miscellaneous objects and a door knob
What objects are transportable and what are memory? In this installation, the room, the body and the mind all participate in the struggle to reconcile a playroom. The sights, sounds and smells of being locked in a room with my brother have been reassembled and recontextualized to remember a childhood space.
Between Stuff, 2023
48 x 48, Acrylic, pencil, markers, oil pastels, and fabric on canvas
More work on a relationship with objects in space: the studio in Fairhaven.
Omnipresent, 2021
50 " x 55", Acrylic, markers, pencil, oil sticks on canvas
It is hard to ignore objects and possessions in the spaces where we work and live. As Americans, we collect a lot of things.
My work at Arts, Letters and Numbers explored our relationships to objects. Why do collect and keep them? What is the history contained within them? What do they have such a hold on us? American's have houses and storage lockers full of STUFF!
The research at the residency examined everything from the physical and psychological effects, materiality, memories and the power of objects. This painting is about transforming or removing the power of objects by shifting 3-dimensional objects to a 2-dimensional space. Ultimately the goal was to take the painting, dismantle it in some way, and transform it back into a 3-dimensional object again. This was to achieve total control and power over any object. Unfortunately, the process was interrupted by my developing an attachment to the painting. WHAT? NO! For now, it is a step in the right direction.
Captured on the Way, 2022
27" x 36", Acrylic paint, vinyl and wood.
American's obsession with plastic collected.
One Shift Did It, 2022
14" x 38", Enamel paint, vinyl and wood
America's obsession with plastic collected.