Painting Artist Statemen 12.20.25

Painting demands full emotional and physical commitment.

 I use full body movement and gesture mark making to capture rhythm and channel energy, memory, and resistance of the universe, which is translated onto a surface. I begin with mark and intuition—quick, sketch‑like gestures that capture a subconscious state—and I follow those traces into accumulation, abrasion, which build my surface. My paintings do not stop at the plane; they insist on occupying space. Texture lifts off the canvas becoming bodily and temporal, and a stroke can function as an architectural contour that a viewer can move around, confront, and inhabit. Each mark carries the memory of a motion and the residue of an emotional state; gesture is not only visual but a record of physical time and energy.

I work with heavy impasto, high‑quality pigments, resins, mediums, and repurposed drop cloth materials that function as cultural signifiers and practical collaborators, allowing me to extend paint into relief, gloss, and structural depth while remaining committed to the painter’s language. These contemporary materials are not mere effects; they enable surfaces to read as both painting and terrain, to reflect our material moment, and to extend the surface outward into the viewer’s field. Breaking the fourth wall and entering the viewers intimate space forcing a more intimate engagement. Resin and mixed media allow me to build volumetric surfaces that project texture off the canvas and create structural depth.

I am committed to the language of painting—mark‑making, color, composition, and emotional resonance—even as I push those elements into three dimensions. I compose in space with painterly logic, letting pigment, medium, and gesture determine form. I do not sculpt in the traditional sense; I remain a painter composing volumetric surfaces. The work begins with improvisation and is refined through accretion and subtraction: I alternate between impulsive mark‑making and deliberate interventions, balancing spontaneity with structural decisions that ensure longevity. Technical care—choice of pigments, substrate preparation, and structural support—is essential so that risk and accident are held within an archival framework.

Scale is a deliberate choice. Working at human scale or larger invites the viewer to use their whole body to read and feel the work. When a painting occupies the viewer’s intimate field, it changes the terms of engagement: looking becomes moving, seeing becomes sensing. By breaking the fourth wall I aim for paintings that enter the viewer’s temporal and spatial experience—works that are not only seen but lived through. I design surfaces to be encountered over time; a painting reveals itself through proximity and movement, details emerge, shadows shift, and perception changes with each step. Rhythm in my paintings is not merely visual patterning; it is a temporal cadence that the body senses as it moves through space.

My process is both improvisational and rigorous. I begin with an emotional or conceptual impulse and allow the work to veer, to contradict, to surprise. This requires a willingness to let go of initial ideas and to trust the emergent logic of the piece. Growth depends on the ability to release control and follow the work’s unfolding; clarity and resilience emerge from embracing the truth of one’s personal path. At the same time, I balance spontaneous expression with thoughtful structural craftsmanship: selecting durable supports, high‑quality pigments, and construction methods that ensure the integrity and longevity of the work. Experimentation and archival responsibility coexist in my practice.

Recent encounters with virtual painting technologies have expanded my sense of spatial composition and immersive possibility. Digital tools have not replaced the studio; they have informed new ways of thinking about surface, depth, and viewer movement and have encouraged me to imagine paintings as environments—surfaces that invite circulation, confrontation, and prolonged attention. These technologies catalyze new compositional strategies and immersive experiences while the physical labor of the studio remains central to my practice.

My work grows from gestural abstraction and impasto traditions but seeks to expand those lineages into new spatial and technological contexts. I am interested in how painting’s history can be a springboard rather than a constraint. I aim to dissolve the boundary between painting and sculpture and, in doing so, to dissolve disciplinary boundaries altogether: to provoke engagement rather than dictate meaning, to invite the viewer into a relational experience where the work acts as a catalyst for emotion, memory, and perception. The paintings ask for time and presence: to be walked around, felt, and returned to.

Ultimately, my work is an inquiry into what painting can be when it refuses to be contained. It is an invitation to slow down, to spend time with material and mark, and to allow the body to register rhythm, texture, and scale. The more I give of myself to the work, the more it returns; painting becomes a life practice, a continual negotiation between intention and surrender, between the private act of making and the public act of encountering. I make paintings that move into space—using gesture, impasto, and contemporary materials to build surfaces that extend beyond the wall and into the viewer’s field—inviting presence, patience, and a lived, bodily experience.

Statement 5/2025

  I begin with the experiences of daily living. In my daily life I study art, visit galleries, visit museums, write about art and I engage in conversation with my artist friends. My mind becomes filled with ideas. My passion creates a feeling of strong emotion. This is when I enter my studio with an intention and narrative of what I want to paint, but when I pick up my brush to start painting, I forget everything, I don’t think, I just start painting.  Through this process I find myself in the zone or state of flow. In this state of consciousness actions merge with perception of measured time. Time no longer exists. I connect to the vibration and rhythm of the universe. I transcend beyond perceptions of three-dimensional space and reach higher levels of dimensional existence. While creating I am in a state of hyperdimensionality.

 I am frequently asked to explain the concept of nonrepresentational painting. To begin a journey toward understanding, it is important to acknowledge that a receptive observer must be open to embracing alternative modes of expression and interpretation. This involves relinquishing conventional norms and parochial notions concerning painting. A productive approach to comprehending abstraction involves contemplating the dynamics of relationships—our connections with ourselves and others. When standing before a painting, the dialogue of connection commences, and the depth of engagement correlates with the willingness to invest and surrender. The experience of viewing a painting is deliberate and calm, warranting an investment of time in its presence. Oftentimes, emotions and responses establish, or transform, and evolve over the time spent in front of or revisiting the work fostering a continuous visual and emotional odyssey.

Statement, Steel Stacks 5/9/2024

Since relocating to the Bethlehem area of Pennsylvania, my frequent visits to the Steel Stacks have profoundly influenced my artistic expression. Immersed in the colossal structures and remnants of the mill, I am deeply moved by the aesthetic of decaying steel, iron, wood, brick, and stone. These materials, steeped in the industrial energy of a bygone era, channel an inescapable force into my creative process.

The principle that energy never disappears but merely changes form resonates throughout my work. This energy, once pulsating through the production of steel that served the world, now permeates my art, infusing it with a dynamic presence. My recent series of paintings delves into the essence of the artist and our collective existence, employing a palette of black and white—colors that embody the full spectrum of energy absorption and reflection.

This dichotomy of black and white, where all color is either absorbed or reflected, mirrors the fundamental nature of existence and perception. It echoes the scientific essence of white light, which carries energy across all visible wavelengths, and black holes, where all light and energy are irrevocably absorbed. These concepts not only underpin the thematic exploration of my series but also invite viewers to reflect on the omnipresent and transformative nature of energy in our lives and the universe.

Through this body of work, I continue to explore and express the enduring and ever-changing forms of energy, inviting viewers to experience the profound impact of historical and existential energies through the lens of contemporary art.

Atelier Statement, 10/6/23

The energies of the universe create opposing and multiple forces which relate to one another. Emotions are used to pull energy from the universe and transfer it onto the surface of a canvas which creates the painting. Energy is always present and remains constant.

Bridges 8/8/2023

A bridge serves as a connection between two opposing ideologies, highlighting the existence of a common ground that is greater than our differences. It is through acts of helping others, giving, building, and sharing that we can foster unity and understanding.

9/6/2020 Gestural Paintings

This series of paintings is based on being in a state of present awareness while painting with no intentional aesthetic. Through channeling expression of metaphysical energy and subconscious emotion and thought and then using gestural movement across the surface the work is created. The aesthetic is the result of the act and intuitive expression. The painting has its own individual integrity open to a viewer’s interpretation.

 With this series the act of painting and being in the moment superseded narratives or content. Much like dancing where we experience the moment and allow expression through emotion, I could allow myself to experience deep feelings not consciously available. The finished piece or final aesthetic is the result of the act (action) and intuitive or subconscious expression. The painting has its own individual integrity open to a viewer’s interpretation.  

 I use scale mainly 64” by 60” to allow the mark making to be broad using my full body movement. The scale is also human in size so the viewer can relate to the painting like another person using their entire body to experience the work. I use an intuitive pallet but also one I am familiar with. The use of large amounts of oil paint allows me to create texture which moves out into three-dimensional space and celebrates the rich qualities of this medium.  

Letting Go and Change 2021

This series of paintings represents the change we have all experienced from a lock down and a year of living in a pandemic. They reflect an openness, the movement forward from out of this pandemic and embrace positive feelings and ideas. The emotions as we embrace life without mask or with limited socialization.The paintings also represent a transformation and change taking place of our culture and the growth changes of acceptance, understanding perspectives and a new gratitude on life. There is also an exploration of a medium which was introduced by a friend and Artist from Bushwick which allows new techniques to be explored and embraces the passion I have for painting and being in the process.

The Cross 2/2021

I have a friend who is a Catholic Priest. One day while listening to him I observed that he was wearing a vestment with four squares in each corner. I noticed that the negative space formed a cross. I sketched his image, and this began a journey on a series of paintings. I began exploring the shape and radial composition of crosses. In the past I had often incorporated crosses or x’s in my work. The mark making of two lines intersecting is a gesture that I enjoyed. I also became interested in the shape and negative space. This work also explores spirituality and the emotions connected to symbolism. Symbolism and symbols are be challenged in current culture today. What do symbols of religion or country represent? How much value do we place on them? The spirituality in a painting has fascinated me since I began looking at Caravaggio. The idea of painting a higher being into a work or creating a work that is connected to something metaphysical adds to my belief of objectivity in artwork.  I started to research the cross and here is what I learned. Crosses were used in ornamentation and precisions for Heraldic or as coat of arms. Pre-Christian crosses, like Egyptian symbols which had a loop at the top and symbolized life. It was known as Anasata. The cross Gammata composed of four Arms in clockwise represents daylight and life. If the arms are counterclockwise it represents night, also used in Indian culture. May have also been a symbol of fire and sun. An early Christian cross the Canterbury was shaped in a wheel with four triangles (representing the trinity), it features a square in the center. Brigid’s cross or Bridget’s Cross is a woven cross with a square in the center and tied at the end of each arm. The square in the center may have dated pre-Christian as a pagan symbol of Irish gods or Celtic gods it is symbolic of Kildare Ireland. The Greek cross has four equal arms. The Latin cross has a base longer than three other arms. Crux commissa is in the form of the Greek letter tau also known as St. Anthony crosses it forms a T. The crux Decussta named for the Roman symbol decussisor symbol for number 10 also known as the cross of St. Andrew. The Maltese Cross has eight points and a V at the end of each arm. This represents the eight obligations of Knights of Almafi .

The Face of Covid (Sugar Skulls) 8/2020

 This series started randomly while I was trying to sketch what I thought the face of corona would look like. The paintings evolved into iconic images of skulls. Something you might see representing Pirates, Marauders or even Sugar Skulls. I painted these Skulls in my Philadelphia studio when the pandemic hit in 2020. The pandemic had caused restrictions and a lock down. I felt isolated and alone. I also felt anxious and fearful, but also experienced feelings of freedom. The freedom of being in my studio daily without any distractions of daily life. All this filled me with inspiration. I began to paint daily at a manic pace. The work took on its own meaning. I was not consciously aware of what I was doing. When summer hit there was civil unrest in the streets next to my studio. I could hear the sirens and helicopters as I worked. Outside my studio I observed military soldiers building barricades. This increased my anxiety which fueled my energy. I worked uncontrollably at a high intensity every day. When I paused, I tried to understand what I was expressing or had created. I was unable to figure out any meaning. I placed the work on view in an exhibition in Philadelphia. They have received a nice response and the viewer has helped me understand the work.