AESTHETIC STATEMENT

ABSTRACT ARTWORKS:
My artwork arises from my lifelong affinity toward all things in nature where I find unlimited inspiration in the ever-changing natural landscape. I emphasize the mysteries of the cosmos and nature by contrasting patterns, textures, colors, light and shadows as seen in the nature. Organic, curvilinear shapes and textures are always essential features of my work, and I often incorporate many natural elements in my work such as twigs, bark, lichen, and stones to name only a few.

In my abstract work, I am particularly inspired by these elements as viewed from an aerial perspective where organic patterns and textures are salient and harmonious. I am intrigued by the striking contradictions of what I call a "terrible beauty" or a "toxic beauty" where, for example, what at first glance may appear pleasing, enchanting and alluring may actually be harmful, even toxic. This leads me to juxtapose the issues of beauty and decay, life and death, destruction and renewal which is ever present in all aspects of life.

As a former licensed mental health psychotherapist and clinical art therapist, as well and a degreed fine artist, I find compelling similarities in these concepts in human psychology. In my work, I instinctively delve into the depths of the human psyche as well as the depths of nature and weave together the striking parallels between the two. Abstraction is an ideal artistic style of art-making that lends itself to expressing emotional, spiritual and psychological concepts over literal depiction of the natural world.

For me, the process of creating is as important as the product. I work intuitively and spontaneously, often with no preconceived notion of what I am going to create. I paint by adding layer upon layer of paint, one on top of another until an image begins to emerge. This process of painting over an underpainting is called “pentimento” where changes are made to a painting by repainting over it during the creative process, leaving the earlier painting buried beneath the subsequent layers. Sometimes the under-layers become visible, either purposely or accidentally. This layering, covering and revealing process mirrors the human experience, where hidden parts of ourselves are slowly covered and uncovered, hidden and revealed over time.

LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS:
My representational landscape paintings are also inspired by many of the same factors as my abstract work. However, these representational painting are more literal and celebrate the sublime of nature. My landscape paintings are less conceptual than my abstract work, however, when creating representational landscapes, my goal is to not only observe but to also "feel" the natural world, deduces its essence and then retell that essence in a way that I hope will move and inspire the viewer on an emotional, psychological and spiritual level and to connect the viewer to a deeper understanding of and respect for the mystical in nature.

Finally, one cannot fully explore nature and its parallels to humanity without also considering the issue of our current climate crisis, as the two are integrally entwined. Often my work will include aspects of climate change and its impact on planetary life. Our planet is undoubtedly resilient and has gone through many magnificent and tumultuous changes throughout its long history. It will likely survive the drastic changes due to a changing climate, but the arduous question faced by humanity is what species will find an altered planet unsuitable for life? Previous extinctions have occurred before and scientists tell us that we are currently in the midst of the "sixth great extinction." One thing is clear, extinction is permanent and when a species is lost through extinction, it can never return again naturally. What is gone, sadly is gone forever!