My work hinges on found objects and various ephemera. It has a three-dimensionality about it, which sometimes verges on the edge of sculpture, but it still makes use of the wall as an integral structure. Through the use of these objects, along with the acts of painting, drawing, and collaging, I create abstract works based on formal principles and design.
The subject matter varies widely from piece to piece, because my work incorporates parts of other objects. For example, my book covers employ text and quotes as the subject, and my larger works rely heavily on more obvious, recycled material. In this way, the subject can be bits and pieces of something small, or the subject can simply be the end result, where the viewer is meant to view the final piece as a whole.
I am drawn to making attractive works of art. I often search for found beauty, such as the patina on an old book page, stained by ink or coffee, how it has aged over time. If I am not able to find something with this aspect, I create it. Spilled paint; rubbed, eroded charcoal; image transfers; expressive mark making; all of these are ways in which I bring beauty to my images. These artifacts I find, and make, all evoke a history. They are meant to look as though they’re from another time.
The process of making these works is largely based in play, in placing one part against another part, and reacting to all of these things over the course of creating the art. I spend a long time looking for old objects to incorporate into my work. In many cases, the parts of the final artwork have been built up, torn off, reapplied, or even covered up from the beginning to the end of the creative process. This part is important for me because I enjoy seeing it evolve and change over time, something which the viewer does not get to see.