Artist Statement

The passion to connect to the cycles and interwoven intimacy with the environment within which I live is potent. Engaging in the physicality of the experience, the mark making is gestural and intricate, resulting in a wide range of tones that vibrate energy -reminiscent of the underlying forces of nature itself. The intense observation is a means of entering the silent places within but also a way of exposing the intimate in the universal and the universal in the intimate.

Through the utilization of many grades of graphite pencils, the mesmeric process of careful attention is a time-consuming detailed approach where textures are always visible and pulsating with life. At the same time, my technique is a metaphor for embracing the moment. It’s fascinating to me to work with the basic material of the earth, what was once life, to create works that are completely integrated with the images.

Grounded in realism, the drawings navigate between reality and interpreted vision. Eliminating references to color, the monochromatic palette enables exploration into a scene or object simply and directly and with a sense of abstracted reality. Manipulating dark and light through a myriad of tonal contrasts goes beyond representation to where, layer upon layer, delicate strokes and nuances convey an ethereal, serene image.

The works are lyrical meditations and a practice of nurturing an understanding and appreciation for the incessant resilience of the flourishing and decaying of nature and the complexities of our relationship within those cycles. My hope is that through intense observation the complexities, inter-connectedness, and teachings of the natural world force us to think about the intrinsic wonders as well as the consequences of our behavior to the planet.