Artist Statement: General
My work is an ongoing search for meaning and meditation. Physical beauty, space, form, heartbreak, humor, lust, love, children, and the craft of art, fuel my inspiration. To be a "working artist" is to document a life in all its truths and edits.
Artist Statement: Tathata
Los Angeles International Airport-Terminal 7/8
TATHATA is the Sanskrit word for the ultimate unchanging reality of all phenomena contained in each single moment of life. TATHATA is often revealed in the seemingly mundane, such as observing the sun illuminating an asphalt road, or noticing the wind blowing through an easement of grass.
As a Los Angeles-based artist, the imagery in my work is inspired by the metropolitan landscape around me, including the trees and plant forms that grow incessantly around freeways and other man-made structures. While commuting by car, often alone and between destinations, I find myself fascinated by these spaces-in-between. My art magnifies and translates these random urban moments into experiences of TATHATA.
I hope these works awaken an awareness and reverence for the interconnectivity of time, man and nature. The airport terminal is the perfect space for this exhibition, because it is such an in-between place. So I offer them up to you, dear traveler… if you can, take this opportunity to experience TATHATA.
Artist Statement: Map Quests
Map Quests are memory-driven works based on childhood road trips taken across America. I find inspiration in the American landscape, roadside attractions, American history, patriotic parades, and small town America. The printed road map as a surface to work on serves various purposes: it is a nostalgic artifact of an outdated technology, it references specific geographic locations, and it is a reminder of our freedom to move about. Working in pastels are like the crayons I used as a kid, evoking early memories of making art.
Artist Statement: True Love
Falling in love is an inspiring and overwhelming experience that takes us beyond our ordinary lives. When we fall in love we see another human being as a god or a goddess. If this person views us in the same way, magic happens and we hope it lasts forever. Rooted in the medieval ideal of chivalry, falling in love plays a major theme in our cultural story. The paintings in "True Love," are loosely based on the myth of Psyche and Eros. Painting realistically with traditional materials reveals not only surface appearances, but also deeper truths. The myth of Psyche and Eros is a story of falling in love, and the trials required to keep it.