My paintings are spaces where energy moves matter. Events double back to devour themselves, momentum overtakes strategy, tectonic plates meet and collide. The paintings reflect my experiences of great western landscapes the shock of unabsorbed events. The slick paint resembles oil spills and hot toxic color fields: beautiful pictures of terrible things. California is a place where we are caught off guard, a place of gambling, chance, and change. “Land marred and poisoned is disarmingly beautiful and dramatic in its tragedy.”—Robert Redford.
I paint it.

I paint on sheets of mylar laid flat on a 9 × 9 foot table. The mylar tilts like a landscape. The topography below the mylar helps generate the composition of each painting. Thick black sweeps and iridescent skim coats are marks made without the scaled imprint of hand or brush. Liquid marks leave evidence of something having happened. Corrosive flecks of soda ash cake like battery acid on the edges of the paint, irridescent Cristalina fills the pools with glitz. The translucent surface of the mylar allows the edges to disappear into the wall. Light penetrates directly through clear pools of medium to the wall beyond. The architecture of the wall is subverted.

I make the space between things visible. The empty space allows motion. I paint what I know is there but cannot see.

Resume

Born

1971

San Francisco, CA  

Education  

2001

MFA, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco

1995

BA, University of California, Santa Cruz

1995

Allan Chadwick Farm and Garden Program (Sustainable Agriculture), Santa Cruz, CA

1993

International Honors Program (Sustainable Development), Travel and Study

1992

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (School of Architecture), New York, NY

Selected Awards  

2010

SECA SFMOMA award (nomination)

2007

SECA SFMOMA award (nomination)

2005

SECA SFMOMA award (nomination)

2001

SECA/In Site SFMOMA award (nomination)

2000

Murphy Cadagon, San Francisco Foundation

1999

Sunspot Laboratory, Cal State LA Exhibition   

Solo Exhibitions

2011

Knock Out, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA

2010

Diamond Rings, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

No More Mr Nice Guy, Ochi Gallery, both Walnut St and Lewis St, Ketchum, ID

The Rings We Road In On, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA

2009

Recent Paintings, Shasta College, Redding, CA

2007

Folded Pours, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2005

Superball: Recent Paintings, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

New Work, Ochi Gallery, Sun Valley, ID

Pending, Liquid Spaces' One Union, San Francisco, CA

2004

New Work, G.R. N'Namdi Gallery, Detroit, MI

2003

Organic, G.R. N'Namdi Gallery, Chicago, IL

2002

New Paintings, New Years Show, Ochi Gallery, Sun Valley, ID

Blindsided, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA

2001

Introductions: Shooting Pool in Public, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA

New Paintings. New Talent, Ochi Gallery, Sun Valley, ID

The Economics Series, Neo, San Francisco, CA

2000

Cars and Wilds, CCAC Nave, San Francisco, CA

Place Maker, CCAC Graduate Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1999

Rock Scissors Paper, Canessa Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1995

The Ultimate Triumph, University of California, Santa Cruz

Group Exhibitions

2011

artMRKT San Francisco, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2010

Gesture, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

Homage to the Artists, Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID

2009

Paper / Mylar / Vellum, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

MMFA Loft Exhibition #1, Los Angeles, CA

Inaugural Exhibition, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA

2008

Uncharted: Imaginary Landscapes, Hayes Valley Market, San Francisco, CA

2007

Art Chicago, Julie Baker Fine Art, Chicago, Illinois

Art Miami, Julie Baker Fine Art, Miami, Florida

CCA Centennial Exhibition, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

FADA LACMA Los Angeles Art Show, Julie Baker Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA

Wynn Macao Grand Concourse Entry, Steve Wynn, China

2006

Art 4 Auction, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV

Au Courant: Introducing 16 Artists New to Bentley, Bentley Projects, Phoenix, AZ

Monster Drawing Rally, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

NYC 212 Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, New York, NY

The Village at Squaw, Remoteviewing 3, Squaw Valley, CA

Wynn Las Vegas, Steve Wynn, Las Vegas, NV

2005

Art Auction, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

Close Calls, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA

Emerging Artists ’05… tomorrows masters, Julie Baker Fine Art, Parada Hall, Scottsdale, AZ

LA Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA

Neo-Mod: New Northern California Abstractionists, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

Neo-Mod: New Northern California Abstractionists, Monteray Museum of Art, Monterey, CA

San Francisco International Art Exposition, Julie Baker Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

Splat, Sabina Lee Gallery, Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

The Affordable Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, New York, NY

2004

San Francisco International Art Exposition, Julie Baker Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2003

The Affordable Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, New York, NY

Chicago Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, Chicago IL

San Francisco International Art Exposition, Julie Baker Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2002

A New World Trade Center, Max Protech Gallery, New York, NY

Baker's Dozen, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA

Cream, Arts Benicia Center Gallery, Benicia, CA

The Affordable Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, New York, NY

unDRAWN, The Brewery, Los Angeles, CA

2001

Introductions South, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2000

Tails of the City, Sony Metreon, San Francisco, CA

Works on Paper, Exchange Show: China and American Artists, China

1999

Construction Paper, Door 3 Gallery, Oakland, CA

Sunspot Laboratory Show, Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles

1998

ConCurrents, Design Studio 8A, New York, NY

1996

Dibujos y Suenos, Del Sol, Barcelona, Spain

1995

Hunters Point Installation, 5th year Studios, Santa Cruz, CA