I paint strangely juxtaposed elements to create unusual harmonies. Every part of my process is about relationships. I combine disjointed components then search for ways to connect them. I think about dichotomies, dualities, and continua. I avoid the obvious choices, as revelation and wonder are crucial parts of my process.
I stay in the present moment while working. I look and react. I’m bold and aggressive. Though my actions are quick, intuitive, and uninhibited, my paintings show a slow course of action. They have a history of layers woven in and out of each other. Previous layers peek out from behind more recent marks.
I work big, using my whole body to paint and move the paintings around my studio. The compositions must be dynamic from across the room, but the details are more exciting to me.
I create these details by butting loose, broad strokes against careful printing techniques, intentional marks next to poured drips, one mark passing over several textural surfaces. Sometimes I move brushes; sometimes I move the painting and let gravity move the paint.
I like pushing to the edges and finding subtlety within the nuances of the following scales:
- color (dark/light, cool/warm, dull/bright, transparent/opaque)
- physical and visual texture (thin/thick, smooth/relief, small shapes or marks/big shapes or marks)
- approach (makes sense/slightly confusing, control/chance, additive/subtractive, geometric/organic)
I make sure both ends of each one of these spectra are represented. The relationships between these elements create tension and cohesion.
I always change my clothes to paint, physically stepping into my creative process. I am a laborer with a series of tasks to accomplish. I seek to achieve as much contrast as I can manage inside a harmonious world of colors, textures, and layers.