Artist Statement
As a child, I spent much of my time running around the mountains collecting rocks. Nature has always inspired wonder within me. In my creative practice, I aim to convey the wonder that I feel while experiencing a breathtaking vista, a glistening crystal in the ground, or looking up at stars. For me, these experiences open portals into the mystery of our existence.
In a time when traditional religion is on the decline, I am seeking to engage with the soul through painting. I create paintings that map out a personal cosmology. This cosmology is intricately tide to the landscapes around me and the sense of awe and mystery I feel within these localities. For example, the mountains can be portals to a personal heaven through inspiration of mystery and awe, and rivers and lakes can a door into the subconscious.
For me, painting provides an opportunity to exercise an alternative way of knowing that is like prayer. Painting is magic-- magic not as an illusion but as a manifestation of the small quiet voice within myself. I am seeking an engagement with that which is emergent within me. This spans from engaging with my dreams, to my trauma, to the questions of 'where did I come from?' and 'where am I going?' and 'how can my paintings manifest the moral world that I want to live in?'
Recently, I have begun to layer my paintings more and more and am drawn to into the vibrancy that is created by the resonance of colors. I will continue to paint in this intuitive method. Finally, the work becomes a cathartic process, where, when the painting is complete, I can see what is inside of me and the colors and forms that have emerged become a salve to my soul and a compass to guide me.
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