Uninvited We Stand. watercolor on canvas, 52x60inches, 2010

Our Lady Highlife watercolor on canvas, 26x94inches, 2009

Tattered Cordage watercolor on canvas, 11x71inches, 2009

Longing Lucy 5 watercolor on paper, 18x24inches, 2009

The image of a vessel, such as a warship, possesses a sense of longing for the unknown. Growing up a Navy brat on military bases, passing ships and planes were routine, though I can’t tell you what type they were or what purpose they served. All I can say is that to be in their presence is a reminder that we are all small in the grand scheme of things. My uniformed parents became idols. These militaristic figures along with enchanted fairytale characters were who I looked up to and aspired to embody in some opposing concoction.
Opposition plays a key role throughout my work. The natural landscape of the tropics in contrast to the fabricated, industrial aesthetic of the military is where most of my imagery and content originate. Also integral is the contrast of my personal experience with the military and its global involvement.
Watercolor paint is my primary media for its obvious relation to aqueous imagery and fluid tendency. The constants throughout my work are personal symbolism and a polished level of technical skill. I achieve this fluidity through video and mixed media installation and periodically work in these medias.
My work is undoubtedly romantic. This is not to say I haven’t recognized the negative connotations of militaristic imagery since my adolescence. In terms of pure aesthetics, I find the forms and silhouettes of ships, tanks, planes, fortresses, etc., just as striking as the scenery surrounding them. In my paintings this is reflected in that all elements are treated as integral parts of one landscape.
The color palette, composition, and subject matter of war propaganda, esp. WWII American posters, are of great influence. The weaponry in my paintings signifies the fight for the greater good, and the proud figure signifies the fight for the individual. Within the work I also quietly address that it is backwards and outdated to attempt to achieve freedom through force. By coalescing a warship with the landscape, or depicting a proud sailor-siren hybrid that has let down her hair, I’m subtly paying tribute to these causes from an unbiased viewpoint.
Overall, the work is about the overwhelming sense of longing for a New World, and the silent haunting of the Old. My work isn’t an attempt at creating or recreating these worlds. It is an attempt to be the guide and to create the vessel to get there.

Longing Lucy

Videos: Spring 2009

2 stills taken from the center of the planetarium looking upward

Fading Out and Back Again (above), a 7-part projected video, was included in the exhibition, Cosmix II, at the South Florida Bishop Planetarium in collaboration with the Ringling College of Art and Design. Essentially, it is a more abstracted version of the most recent video I’ve completed Like a Moth to a Flame. They're both large-scale and start with the notion of a dream state, scattered with images of windy/watery bodies, sea creatures, playful figures, entrancing lights and eerie sounds of submerged clicks and shrills. This slowly dissolves into a more visceral state, with slightly masked images of smoky bars and back porches littered with whiskey sours, burning cigarettes, beer bongs, and inebriated figures that range from dancing to daunting, accompanied by an audio including bits of slurred stories and fed-back from house shows. Then a moment of darkness moves into an awakening which, after some reflection on the nightly happenings, rolls right back into the dream state. Ideally, Like a Moth to a Flame would loop for the duration of a show. Also, when installed there is a gap between the two videos, which is not seen web rendered version. The only added audio in the 2-part video installation is a track of me humming which fades in and out, keeping with the flow of the images and my tendency to be over indulgent in romanticism. The humming starts out with “Part of Your World” from Disney's “The Little Mermaid” and “Once Upon a December” from “Anastasia”, then as the imagery darkens, The Eagles hit “Witchy Woman” comes in, and finishes up with Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does it Better”.

The videos are mostly sort a visual poetry, with the same dreamy, fluid treatment as my paintings/sculptures. Plans for future videos include making backdrops and prop-like objects, and going to more on sight locations to film and just taking more complex footage in general.

The web version of Fading Out and Back Again will be up soonish.

Implacable Creature

Implacable Creature
was a duel show featuring my good friend Mikaela Williams and myself at the Crosley Gallery.

new blog

for now, here are some pictures from the "Cosmix" exhibition at the South Florida Museum.