STUDIO

Artist Statement.

To appreciate the trajectory of my artistic career, you should know that my strength comes from waiting. Being raised in tumultuous times does not mean I was deprived of the pursuit of artistic experience and intellectual expression. From infancy to young adulthood I learned by example that to engage in an artistic practice is a calling for personal development and the betterment of community. I am mostly self taught. Yet if being disconnected from one's peers or being unfamiliar with the arts industry defines an outsider, then that label is not for me. I did not set out to be a conduit for others but as coincidence is fate I am indeed recognized as an artists artist. Working through decades with exceptional artists such as Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf or Daniel Arsham, Bhakti Baxter and many others has been a privilege and an education. My ability to realize others dreams is an inadvertent calling that continues to inspire me today.

Creative exploration, both internal and external, has lead me to an understanding of the importance of hard work and the principles of civility. Patience and fortitude have afforded me a familiarity with a wide range of materials and processes that are necessary to render quality and value in art. Principles of civility such as compassion and nurture make up the intellectual framework that give purpose to my art. Beauty, humor and social relevance are the criteria by which I validate all art. Being on the edge of the unconventional is where irreverence in art resides. To venture into uncharted territories of creativity is a daily occurrence in my practice. What is unknown about art today soon becomes obvious as illustrated by Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

My recent work is a convergence of my professional career as a fabricator and my personal multi-disciplinary studio practice. I paint, draw, sculpt, perform and write in an ongoing effort to explore the boundaries of intuition and knowing. Beyond the ephemeral enigma of the creative process, the application of these disciplines manifests in persuasive examples of the power of art to inspire. Visually my work is rooted in realism and traditional representational work as seen through interpretations of the material world. Currently my work is focused on references to abstract geometrics as the language of non-objective illusionary optics where relationships of color and shape influence our spiritual mindset.