digital drawings

These digital prints were conceived of while looking through stacks of figure drawings I have done over the years. The quick gestures capture the momentum of the physical body moving in space. Underlying the sketches there is a system of proportion that can be applied to all figures, regardless of their individual characteristics. As I manipulated the drawings digitally new patterns emerged. From representation to abstraction something new was born gathering momentum in an alternate direction. The individual became part of the whole, much like cells combining and transforming to create new life when bodies connect.

images of Africa

A trip to Kenya I took in August of 2006 provided the motivation for this series of paintings.The people I encountered radiated with an authenticity unlike anywhere I had previously been. I was moved by a state of being that was pure, present, and solidly connected.The color and light seemed to be a visceral reflection of the inner life of the land. Africa felt both exotic and oddly familiar, as though I was coming home after a long absence. Shortly after my arrival it became apparent that I would be affected by these profound impressions for a while. Painting in this instance became an exercise in bearing witness, I literally had to share the experience in order to process it fully.

la famiglia

I began work on this series of paintings after the death of my grandfather. While sorting through his belongings I discovered a box of small black and white snapshots of my Italian family dating back to the early 1900’s. These photos fascinated me; the environments were both familiar and yet antiquated, provoking memories of a time and place that existed before I was born. I became fascinated with the idea that the lives of my ancestors seemed so familiar to me, that I could relate so strongly not only to the people in the photos, but to the choices made by the person behind the camera. Sometimes humorous, often poignant, the photographs triggered in me a desire to further explore my roots on canvas.

drawings

Drawing from life has been a regular practice for me over the past twenty years. It is the foundation for all the figurative work that I do. These charcoal sketches were done as quick demonstrations for my life drawing classes. The immediacy of drawing in charcoal provides instant gratification and trying to capture my impression of the model in a short amount of time is very enjoyable.

portraits and figures

Painting people has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Discovering a person through paint is a powerful experience - what is revealed can sometimes be surprising. While structure and likeness factor into a painting I am much more interested in intuitively searching for the essence of the subject. Rather than steering the course of a painting through technical skill I prefer to allow myself to be lead by the paint. The result is a sort of co-creative process between the paint, the model, and me.

wax & oil

These paintings were created over the last few years during a period marked by abrupt change and unforeseen loss for many people. They are a visual and emotional response to anxiety generated by the fear of the unknown. Influenced to some degree by the fall of our economy and the devastation that followed, they depict figures in various psychological states. It is a state of being, rather than a particular being that I am most interested in depicting. The individual characteristics

of the people I paint are secondary to the archetypal spirit that they personify. They are representative of shared emotion and universal experience. In keeping with the theme of this series, I incorporated wax into many of the images not only as a sculptural component but also to add an unfamiliar element to the work. In doing so I was less sure about the direction of each piece as wax was a new, unpredictable medium. Leaping into the unknown with wax was a deliberate choice to be undertaken with childlike enthusiasm instead of fear. These images are the result of that experiment