ARTIST STATEMENT

With painting, I want to tell a story; to uncover and understand what has come before, or explore what is still hidden. This is not only an aesthetic process, but also one that allows me to invent history. I want to explore a tactile sensibility, or in other words, to touch what is on the surface while still searching for what is lying underneath.

I began to think about deconstruction in graduate school. The theory comes from the Grammatologist, Jacques Derrida. Essentially, his idea breaks apart the structure of language in search of meaning. With this in mind, I employ a reductive style of painting that works in concert with repeated patterns and geometric forms. By deconstructing a form down to its lowest denominator, I explore decay, a sense of ragged history, emotion and finality. It is the interplay of materials, such as acrylic gels, transparent pigments, alkyd resins and inks, that informs this process for me. I am fascinated by the stories they can tell.