Since moving to Northern New Mexico three years ago, I’ve been increasingly influenced by elements in the environment: the dramatic effects of atmospheric phenomena, the vast scale of the sky and the land with it’s dominant horizon line, and the historic architecture that marks the region. Those influences have begun to appear in my work, expressed formally as saturated color, rhythmic intervals, geometric divisions, and tactile surface treatment.
I use process, improvisation and the physical qualities of materials to render my perceptions into formal abstraction. Those materials are: oil paint, alkyd medium and refined beeswax on polyester canvas stretched over panel, and, in the collages, vintage found paper.
My paintings are process-based. I layer bands of color into colored grounds, working wet into wet to add and subtract until I reach compositions that evoke both internal states and the external landscape and shifting atmosphere. For me, they’re exercises to stay present in the unfolding moment, apprehending the world through unmediated senses and working collaboratively with the inherent properties of the materials.
In my recent collage work with vintage found paper, I’ve referenced geometry and architectural forms, an interest that I’ve explored for four decades. As with my other work, I’m translating a somatic encounter with a real place, into formal compositions. I‘m drawn to the idea of constructing something beautiful and original from materials marked by the patina of age and use, in the same way that ancient structures endure through time and history.
By emphasizing openness, observation and process, my work conjoins my studio practice with my meditation practice.
May 2017