Mixed media on paper mounted on deep wood panel,
“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” – Anne Frank
In 2020 in the early mornings when much of the world was locked in their own bubble, I noticed the first light one morning. It was so faint initially I almost missed it, but it seemed to draw me back each day. And each day, and it was the same and yet different. Whether just in my backyard or in a campground in the mountains, its light took its own time—slowly peeking through the leaves or around a stand of trees. Silently the light turned pink then mixed itself into lavender and orange and yellow—all without a palette or a paintbrush.
Whether visual or tactile, textures are always my first application, and they engage me throughout the process. Central to my paintings, these textures are multi-layered and fragmented and are created by addition to or subtraction from the surface.
I may press found objects into the surface, encase materials, paint over them, apply markings and collage, or scrape and incise to reveal the layers beneath. One layer may be placed on top of the other, only to have earlier layers exposed or “excavated.” Images emerge; text becomes texture or line; and symbols connect the diverse elements, integrate the work, and define the boundaries. Turning things over, viewing them from various angles, scratching beneath the surface, allows me to explore what is not always visible.
Ultimately, however, it is the dialogue between all these—texture, symbols, markings—that define my art.