statement
I have chosen a more abstract format for my work over representation, though such rigid categorizations make me uncomfortable. By utilizing an abstracted format that remains open and slightly ambiguous, I seek to bypass categorization through language structures.
Through the centralization of negation and reinterpretation in my work, beginning from a sense of internalized place, through the process of repainting and/or drawing, I seek to sustain an associative dialogue within the work that enables me to find a space that embodies layers of internal/external, invented/ real, and the abject physical/ metaphoric body, grounded in a near death experience. The interest to me is the confrontation of something so outside of one’s normal experience; the enormity, fluidity, chaos, stillness, and incomprehensibility of a moment like this… what happens in the center of this experience, as well as the periphery. As I’ve continued to make the work, the experience of ordinary day to day living (such as my son’s interest in butterflies) has infiltrated the work, as well as the scope of distance.
I have been working with a symbol system that I feel is universal, but also highly personal. Ambiguity is important within the work, as I find this symbol system to be fluid and I feel that the work takes on different references for different people. I believe the content is carried through anthropomorphic and organic elements with the themes of passage and surveillance juxtaposed against constructed spaces or some kind of impediment. I seek to inject subtexts through formal elements such as pressure, asymmetric balance and lack of “finish” in order to engage the viewer.
influences & favorites
Philip Guston
John Millei
Leon Golub
Charlene von Heyl
Giotto
Lee Bontecou
David Hockney
Amy Sillman
bio
AWARDS AND HONORS
§ Olendorf Residency Sholarship, Professional Artist in Residence, Ox-Bow, Saugatuck, MI., 2006.
§ Career Opportunity Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation, 2006.
§ Research and Travel Grant, Knox College, 1999-2000.
§ Recipient of Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, 1999.
§ Teaching Award, College of General Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 1999.
§ GSFA Chairperson’s Merit Grant, University of Pennsylvania, 1997 - 1999.
§ Seligmon/von Simpson and Brown Scholarships, New York Studio School, 1995 and 1996.
§ Scholarship to the Vermont Studio Center awarded by Knox College Departmental Chairperson. Knox College, January 1993.
§ Al Young Scholarship Awards for excellence, awarded by faculty, Knox College, 1992-1993.
TEACHING AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
§ Professor, 2002 – present. Drawing I and II, Design, Painting.
Santa Monica College, Los Angeles, CA.
§ Professor, 2001 - 2004. Art History; Renaissance through Contemporary, Art Appreciation, Drawing. West Los Angeles College, Los Angeles, CA.
§ Professor, 1999-2000. Drawing I, II, and III, Painting I and II, and Printmaking.
Knox College, Galesburg, IL.
§ Printing Instructor, 1999. College of General Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
§ Curator, MFA Exhibitions, 1998 and 1999, Meyerson Gallery. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
EXHIBITIONS
2007
§ Primo Piano LivinGallery, “Effimero Meraviglioso” Group Exhibition, Lecce, Italy.
2006
§ Pharmaka, “Small Wonders”, Group Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
§ Perlow-Stevens Gallery, Group Exhibition, Columbia, MO.
2005
§ Cue Foundation, Joan Mitchell Grant Recipient Exhibition, New York, NY.
§ Riverside Art Museum, “Off the Wall”, Riverside, CA.
§ Chop Shop, Los Angeles, CA.
§ Rose Café Curated Space, Solo Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
§ Kraft Gallery, Group Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
§ Santa Monica College Faculty Exhibition, 2002 – present.
on the nightstand
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Balthazar by Lawrence Durell from the Alexandria Quartet
Ideas of Heaven by Joan Silber
What Happened to Art Criticism by James Elkins
add to mylist
email this artist
report abuse
contact us for help
