Overview

My work is a tapestry of human, mechanical, and landscape elements.  It is a collection of symbols indicative of an underlying psychological struggle.  Nevertheless, it is not necessary for the viewer to understand this investigation.  There is a deliberately established sense of mystery and ambiguity.  I want the viewer to become involved with the atmosphere, characters, and narratives of the work to such a degree that they invent their own interpretation.

Printmaking forms the largest portion of most of my work due to its proximity to drawing. Having a background in computer programming, I enjoy the technical processes involved in creating a print.  I utilize specific effects only afforded by the limestone, plate, and block -- these are vital to the character of the imagery.  As a result, technique and content work symbiotically within my creative process.   

Genius Loci Series

The Genius Loci* lithographs visually illustrate the places that I have lived through the lens of occupation and profession.  Whether a student, laborer, lawyer, doctor, or professor, a person's livelihood undeniably colors one's impression of the world around them.  Furthermore, life experiences must play some role in the formation of these perceptions.  The animals progressing through the top of the images indicate my feelings and state in the locale, whether settled or unsettled, contented or discontented.  The centrally placed landscapes provide a physical representation of the place as listed in the title.  Finally, the bottom section of the works are a collage of literal depictions of commonly used objects and items symbolic of my existence within that space.  Genius Loci is a visual discussion of my position relative to each microcosm, or place, in an attempt to understand my role in the macrocosm, collective, or larger picture.  The latin prefix in the titles points to a historical context while suggesting that the investigation of place in the creation of identity is one aspect of human intellectual development.

Memento Mori/Excursion Series

The works from Memento Mori** are based on the interaction of mechanical and organic parts within us and in the surrounding world.  The tools we create have gradually become physically integrated into our bodies.  Having artificial parts such as pins in a knee and a reconstructed inner ear, I find the android and automaton to be an appropriate symbol of our capacity for alienation and devastation but also of the ability for growth through constant education. However, it is not machine itself that engages me.  Rather I am intrigued by its impact on the human psyche.  Within my process I seek to not only depict this paradox, but also to consider how I exist within it.

The characters in these prints and drawings are collages of personal symbolism, art historical imagery, and mechanical metaphor.  The works of the Excursion series pair early cold-war science fiction illustration with the line quality and compositional structure of old master engravings and woodcuts.  I enjoy addressing oft-visited art historical themes and reinterpreting them with my own symbolism and vocabulary.  Invasions, apocalypses, revelations, and raptures are an environmental characteristic of my work and form the setting for relationships between central characters.  Such encompassing elements reflect wryly on the fate of the players themselves by shifting the context in which they exist.

* latin - “spirit of place.”  A common historical theme.
** latin - “remember that you will die.”  Another common historical theme.