Artist Statement
My current paintings are an expression of the everyday, including the effects of time. Using the vocabulary of architecture I am exploring the concepts of urban life.
These paintings are not about illustrating a specific place or site, and removing the artist hand like the art of the Boyle family. Nor is it an extracted piece from existing architecture leaving an aperture-hole like the work of Gordon Matta-Clark.
My images are a collection of recycled and found objects that are collaged with acrylic paint on boards to create the appearance of building exteriors. – Even the boards themselves are from discarded furniture. Using these found objects I construct a composition inspired from my everyday experiences from walking through the urban environment of Seattle. More specifically since the materials are from, or found, in Seattle they become portraits of Seattle, sections of cityscapes.
In addition they are also portraits of the objects themselves. Inspired from the surroundings in which they were first cast away and then later gathered. On another level they are portraits of people as well. Unlike traditional portraiture, they are not representations of the face or façade of someone or something. They represent an intimate part, the lesser known of someone. That part we take for granted each day. – While everyone may be familiar with the front of a building only those who have become really acquainted with it know the sides and rear.
And yet, they are a statement of society. It’s excess and waste. Each brick is hand crafted and created outside of the work. The bricks are brought together with the other found objects in the collage to live in one area. Being hand crafted, an individual, or unit, the bricks can be a person, family, or neighborhood. These are not paintings about building walls, but to question why we may build walls, and hopefully overcome these walls, or barriers.
