As an environmental engineer, policy analyst, and artist, I am committed to bringing together the worlds of art and emerging policy issues in the context of science. I believe that paintings can be both beautiful yet substantive, exploring relevant issues while reaching new audiences. I find deep satisfaction in combining these worlds.
I am fascinated by rocks and how they evoke geologic time or ‘deep time.’ The relative brevity of our tenure on the planet is astonishing when compared to the breadth of time revealed by the fossil record and earth history. What will survive our present day culture, over the very-long term, is likely to be plastic fragments and strange fossilized bits of debris. Plastic microbeads in my work are a reference to this future-fossil record. I often use flowing water to sculpt a surface dusted with pigments and plaster, harking to my training in water resources engineering and also in appreciation of the marks left by natural processes. Additional layers of resin and other materials evoke geologic layers. Thrown marble dust simulates the random action of wind and can look like granite.
My paintings are richly influenced by my early training in ceramic sculpture: surface texture and color are very important to me. I like to use various materials to get different effects ranging from a jewel-like glaze to a rough matt surface as would be found in a smoked raku-pot. From ceramics, I learned to embrace and explore the “mistakes” as a part of the process of creation, rather than by trying to hide a wayword mark. Lately, I seem to be coming back to my ceramic roots as my paintings get more sculptural.
A neighborhood kid used to make the most beautiful drawings with chalk on the sidewalk. The artwork was free of ego, and showed a purity and boldness of expression untainted by expectations of what art should be. I used to go every day to see what was new. I strive for such a pure and ego-free approach in my own art.
I am fascinated by rocks and how they evoke geologic time or ‘deep time.’ The relative brevity of our tenure on the planet is astonishing when compared to the breadth of time revealed by the fossil record and earth history. What will survive our present day culture, over the very-long term, is likely to be plastic fragments and strange fossilized bits of debris. Plastic microbeads in my work are a reference to this future-fossil record. I often use flowing water to sculpt a surface dusted with pigments and plaster, harking to my training in water resources engineering and also in appreciation of the marks left by natural processes. Additional layers of resin and other materials evoke geologic layers. Thrown marble dust simulates the random action of wind and can look like granite.
My paintings are richly influenced by my early training in ceramic sculpture: surface texture and color are very important to me. I like to use various materials to get different effects ranging from a jewel-like glaze to a rough matt surface as would be found in a smoked raku-pot. From ceramics, I learned to embrace and explore the “mistakes” as a part of the process of creation, rather than by trying to hide a wayword mark. Lately, I seem to be coming back to my ceramic roots as my paintings get more sculptural.
A neighborhood kid used to make the most beautiful drawings with chalk on the sidewalk. The artwork was free of ego, and showed a purity and boldness of expression untainted by expectations of what art should be. I used to go every day to see what was new. I strive for such a pure and ego-free approach in my own art.
