Statement

In my younger and middle–age years my art practice focused on ink drawings. Their content discussed constructions of masculinity, the influences of traditional Western /European narratives, colonialism and assimilation. Some were large, some were small, many were shown in museums, art-dealer spaces, artist run centers, university galleries etc. and were well collected. They were expressionistic in style, derived from a methodology relative to automatism, and increased in image density until they were described as horror-vacui. Although I understand and like this last connection, my intent was to construct worlds and spaces in which linear narratives became very difficult to read. I eventually wanted to present a rhizome, a complicated densely filled surface where images related to each other in different directions, side to side, up and down and on diagonals. I wanted to discuss that there are different perspectives on what is regarded as real history. As my body aged my eyesight endurance decreased and I found it difficult to sustain the concentration to create the visual density of my larger drawings. But my later ink drawings on plasticized sat on a border between modernism and expressionistic fantasies. They appeared flat and impregnable from a distance but as a viewer approached them fantastical figures, scenes and spaces appeared.

Now days I primarily work with watercolors, gouache, and inks on paper, as well as oil and acrylic on canvas. I also produce digital photographs and the occasional video. The paintings discuss hierarchies of representation, fantasy versus modernity and the assimilation of natural worlds. The photographs and videos discuss constructs and critiques of masculinity, as well as aging, compassion ,and time based relationships.