Artist’s Statement

Although primarily a self taught artist, I was granted early acceptance at age sixteen to Pratt Institute, and completed my formal art education and training at Pratt, Parsons School of Design, and Hunter College. At the age of twenty-four I had the rare privilege of assisting Marlborough Gallery artist Bill Jacklin. Ultimately my education as an artist and in the art world, a process which has no end, began there.

The foundation of my work lies within my two earliest obsessions; draftsmanship (the limitless possibilities of conveying form), and the effects of light, both as expressed by the human touch. However, over the years my work has expanded to incorporate a more abstract interpretation of nature and the relationship between space, lines, and edges. I have found the same ‘figurative rhythms’ in nature as with the most rendered ‘representational forms’. My third obsession, nature, has become as much as a visual wellspring as a spiritual necessity. I have been told that there is a disparity between my so-called abstract work and my figurative work; I believe it is just a stylistic issue, although I choose to disregard the idea of style, as have the sources I have gleaned and learned from.  Among these sources are nonwestern and indigenous art, and artists such as Picasso, Diego Rivera, Matisse, Andrew Wyeth, Jackson Pollock, DeKooning, David Smith, Bruce Nauman, and Susan Rothenberg, all of whom have relentlessly sought new ways of conveying form.

I work principally in oils, but experiment with and incorporate many other mediums on paper, canvas, or whatever surface will suit my needs. I use materials ranging from gouache, watercolor, house paint, to charcoal, and graphite. I use a brush, make marks with my fingers, or even a brick if it enables me to evoke my vision.

I’ve been exhibited in three group shows at ‘the Vibrant Gallery’ in New York City, alternative gallery space ‘The Corscadan Barn’ in Keene Valley, NY, and CBGB’s ‘313 Gallery’, as well as in various solo exhibits at Pratt, Parsons, and Hunter College. I have sold original and commissioned work in the United States and abroad. The feeling that there are pieces of me affecting someone in Johannesberg, South Africa, for example, allows me to feel connected on my terms.

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