ARTIST STATEMENT

      Political spin, globalization, terrorism, global warming… is a short list of what keeps our stress level high on a day to day basis. I am exposed to the political, economical and religious ebbs and flows and also to day to day life as well. When I go home, like most, I turn on the TV and look for something to watch. Sitcoms, Infomercial news the stuff that goes in one ear and out the other, as well as real news, the kind that is harder and harder to find, the ones that do not relying on ratings to keep them on the air.
      In my paintings, my energetic brushwork conveys that feeling of urgency, of the busy life in today’s communication age. I bring that into my paintings by using a language that is not overly illustrative in technique or in narration. The energy in my work is reminiscent of the artist signature, the mark but without the presumptuous uniqueness of the mark by the abstract expressionists nor the disdain to such marks as expressed by the stars of Pop Art. My energetic brushwork and my imagery seem in motion, as if we were passing by too quickly to remember all the details.
       In my paintings, my energetic brushwork conveys that feeling of urgency, of the busy life in today’s communication age. I bring that into my paintings by using a language that is not overly illustrative in technique or in narration. I keep my figures and objects in life size range and at eye level to better involve the viewer; as a result my paintings tend to be large like the screen of a multiplex theater. The energy in my work is reminiscent of the artist signature, the mark, but without the presumptuous uniqueness of “the” mark by neither the abstract expressionists nor the disdain to such marks as expressed by the stars of Pop Art. I often use brushes with extenders to cover large areas with large sweeps of a loaded brush. I also make use of the blurriness of life in action as it locks into memory. We do not always have all the visual cues fixed into memory when we witness an event and that is what I present to the viewer, a narrative they remember but do not always recall in detail.
       I leave the process of painting in plain view. My corrections and readjustments are part of the work. I do not cover up areas where I might have moved my composition about; I leave exposed the process of painting for better viewer participation. My work becomes an experience, the viewer travels in and around the objects; they discover the story, and decipher the conflated narrative. They feel a sense of belonging of participation in the process as if they had painted it themselves. In some of my paintings, the narrative has no beginning and no ending like a film clip. I exploit the sense that we get sometimes that we feel like we know that story, we know that seen we are looking at as if it is something we have seen before but cannot remember this exact moment where that memory comes from, kind of like a word that you know and is at the tip of your tongue but escapes you for now. In some other painting I do show the image source for the inspiration though with a little twist, an angle change or a point of view in a scene we recognize but have not seen that particular view before.
       In our networked lives we no longer have time for details we are constantly on the move and moved about. Bombarded by more and more sophisticated political spin and information news we have to work hard at reminding ourselves of the important things and to retain the authorship of the story we are creating or we run the risk of our story being created for us.