Artist's Statement:
My work is first and foremost about humor, the comedy and tragedy I see in the world around me, and most importantly in myself. I create prints, drawings, installations, performances and projections where fragments of reality mix with exaggerated environments and grotesque characters. I believe that despite our best efforts to look important, rational, and dignified, we all make fools of ourselves in the end. I like to think of my work as an investigation into the ways that this tendency manifests itself in our individual lives and in society as a whole. I’m a big believer in the notion that we learn something important when we laugh at ourselves, and that we should be fearless when we evaluate the society we are all complicit in creating for each other.
I have always loved the idea of using visual art to create narratives. My work is grounded in the historical figurative tradition of printmaking and drawing. Much like a writer or filmmaker I have built up a pantheon of reoccurring characters and environments that allow me to investigate some of the social, political, and ethical issues that confront private individuals and communities in contemporary society. I prefer to fragment my stories rather than rely on a traditional narrative structure – so most of the pieces I produce are vignettes and brief glimpses of a larger slapstick comedy world. For example “Heavy Man” is a sad-sack middle class man who mysteriously becomes spontaneously heavy when he interacts with some of the more disturbing elements in our culture. He breaks office chairs, falls through floors, and wanders around lost in a haze of doubt. Other characters allow me to explore issues related to harsh political rhetoric (the Escalation Project), ideologigal zealotry (Jeremiah), homelessness and poverty (Inga), and how the human environment impacts the people who live in it - particularly children who left to their own devices in challenging urban environments (Alley Kids).
My recent studio practice is focused on collaborative performances with the musical ensemble "TORCH" and creating digitally manipulated animations that are projected over static wall drawings. I am attracted to the tension that is created when fuzzy and “cheap” digital elements interact with sharp and beautiful hand drawn marks. The digital elements in my prints, drawings, and hybrid video projections are constantly flickering and morphing, but in an indistinct and veiled way that comments on our current predicament living in a world dominated by glowing screens. I attempt to use the means of mechanical/digital reproduction to create experiences that have to be seen in person to be authentically experienced.