Artist Statement
This is a body of work that I call "The Floating World". It's a combination of ideas that I've been working with for many years.
The basic construct of the image is drawn out on the ground as a kind of automatic drawing. I then incorporate different images onto this "grid". It's amatter of finding what works conceptually, thematically, and compositionally. Through this process a narrative develops that is kind of a call and response between the different elements of the painting. The resulting image can often be dark, satirical, sexual, dreamlike, or comical.
influences & favorites
The major influences on my art have been Dali, Cezanne, Brueghel, Bosch, Van Eyck, Picasso, Dix, Van Gogh, Manet, Nerdrum, Essenigh, Beckmann, Hals, Klimt, Mucha, Hiroshige, Hokusai, Art Nouveau, and Chinese advertising art. Not all of these have had a direct impact on my work that you immediately see, but they have all shaped my vision in some way or another along the way.
Early on, I was attracted to art that conveyed a sense of place. A feeling of the people and the time that they lived in. I was endlessly fascinated by the Van Eycks and Hals paintings. I felt like they captured the essence of a moment in time long since gone. To me there was an Alchemy in the way they captured this. Something beyond human. Dali and the Surrealists took it even farther. I also like the predecessors to the Surrealists and Symbolists, Bosch and Breughel, with their mystical allegories.
In the Last few years I have seen some major exhibitions and have visited museums in Europe where I've really been exposed to a lot of art from the late 1800's and early 1900's, art that really deals with issues like surface and planes, paint and light , expressing things through paint handling and color. Breaking new ground. Changing the way of "seeing" things. I have really been inspired by that time period, it was a great mix of craft and exploration.
bio
Selected Exhibitions:
2005 Alex Haleigh Gallery "100 Miniatures" group show
Gardena, Ca.
2005 Alex Haleigh Gallery"Clockstoppers" group show
Gardena, Ca.
2004 Peachtree Studios "Second Nature" two person show
Mar Vista, Ca.
2003 Endearment Gallery group show
San Pedro, Ca.
2002 Angel's Gate Cultural Center "On Site at the Gate" group show curated by Patricia Correia
San Pedro, Ca.
2002 Endearment Gallery group show
San Pedro, Ca.
2001 Distinctive Edge Gallery solo show"Unknown Allegories"
San Pedro, Ca.
2000 Sunyata Gallery group show
San Pedro, Ca.
2000 LA Harbor College Juried Exhibition
Wilmington, Ca.
on the nightstand
Psycho-cybernetics
add to mylist
email this artist
add to del.icio.us
digg this
stumble it!
report a concern
