Painting, for me, is similar in ways to the pursuit of Alchemy, and as such, is an experiment involving a lot of dead ends. But occasionally the results reveal a property or variable in the paint that has remained unexploited.Most of my studio practice is based on finding these effects that present a novel way of thinking about painting.

I gravitate toward techniques that can suggest some kind of illusion. I enjoy seeing artwork that rejects common sense. Being confronted with these basic cognitive questions presents an opportunity for the viewer. It is this suspension of disbelief that allows the viewer, for a moment, to navigate reality in a simple and playful way that isn’t necessarily grounded by logic. The intoxicating feeling that accompanies walking into a James Turrell work is delivered through withholding the perception of the space and matter.

I see these paintings following the work of several artists who employ simple materials in order to address the emotional and mechanical elements of visual cognition. Some recent influences include: Vija Celmins, Lucio Fontana, Anna Hepler, Joe Kievett, Toba Khedoori, Greg Parker, Bruce Pearson, Gerhard Richter, James Turell, Victor Vasarely.
These pieces are built of many layers of clear acrylic medium into which incisions are made and then filled with acrylic paint.