I use highly saturated colors, velvety matte black, and gold leaf to explore reflected light. The way in which black absorbs light and other colors reflect light creates a push and pull of energy that is central to my work.
Rich physical surfaces engage the viewer on a visceral level and promote self-reflection. Experience of my paintings is incomplete without the viewer's movement, which allows them to see variations in reflected light, iridescence, and textural dimensionality.
Many of my paintings explore the use of periphery as centerpiece. Peripheral areas of my paintings, like their panel edges or a swatch of reflected light spilling onto the wall, are often their focal point.
My sculptural paintings are constructed from multiple panels stacked parallel to one another with gaps between, thus adding another layer of periphery. Interior surfaces are painted in as much detail as the panels' sides. Though the top or front panel's primary surface, typically the focal point in a painting, acts as a void, being completely black. This technique encourages the viewer to move around the painting to investigate areas of the panels that are often left unattended.
Installations and Installation Models
A few months ago, I showed my siblings a photograph of an 8" square painting. I'd photographed the 2" thick panel resting upright on a wooden table, which accidentally gave them the impression the painting was quite large & freestanding on a wooden floor. Through the eyes of my brother and sister, I also imagined the painting was an 8 foot rather than an 8 inch square. I liked what I saw and proceeded to explore different installation ideas by building scaled models.
I view these models not only as sketches for full-scale installations, but also as standalone artworks. I use the tiny model spaces as a window into something quite large. A subtle magic exists in the blurry border between small & large - between physical & imagined.
I include hand painted miniature people in the installation models to help the viewer establish a connection, and of course, to demonstrate the scale more effectively. As most viewers do, when I look into a model space, I identify with the people occupying the space, then insert myself into the scene as one of those people. This device allows the viewer to experience a greater sense of immersion in the work.
My next step with this project is to build life-sized installations, and include the scaled models as a satellite display. Ideally, the action of imagining oneself into a tiny installation model space, then literally walking into that space in the next room will create a moment of wonder. In this moment, the viewer may experience a tenuous & shaky sense of reality - an instant of questioning their anchor to physical space.
