ARTIST STATEMENT AND BIO

BIO

I have  been painting since I was in middle school, ultimately attending Massachusetts College of Art and the Museum School in Boston for my early college education. I ultimately left my formal art studies – largely due to financial needs – to work in computer graphics and animation for business applications. I made my way towards a career in management consulting but continued to paint and have exhibits in the late 1980’s around my work schedule. After building a family, I resumed painting more intensively in 2010. I have exhibited in Annapolis and DC over the past number years in juried exhibits (please see CV).

STATEMENT

My work has taken 2 tracks, especially of late. The first is based on my passion for photography and collage and 2nd focuses on large scale drawings and paintings of characters representing emotions and experience. I feel there is a relationship between both tracks in the patterns of contrasting dark and light and juxtaposition of unlikely images and objects.

Within the mixed media photo collage work, I assemble and place images together in ways that are satisfying as I go through the process of collecting and photographing objects that I find meaningful for me.  It is an experience of flow where I am simply reacting to colors and images - the most effective work emerges when I don’t think but rather respond. The same goes for choice of color, transparency and texture.   I am very fascinated by the random things that occur in the photography/painting/collage process that I can then react to. I do not manipulate the photos digitally - with the exception of changing light and contrast (overall) - and then have them printed in large format.  I then collage, paint, write etc. into them with acrylic ultimately using oil as last layers.

For the large-scale drawings/paintings of characters, I am more intentionally exploring my take on life, relationships, dilemmas, desires.  While I was trained to draw/paint realistically, I am consistently trying to deconstruct how I draw and build images.  These works are very compelling for me, often completed very quickly in conception and, in the case of drawings, in execution.  I continue to explore both tracks, perhaps merging drawing and photocollage specifically. 

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