Statement
Regarding my newest body of work "Circles of Time"
As humans, we often perceive time in a linear manner. However, many of our devices used to measure time are formatted in a circular configuration, ranging from sun dials to analog clocks and modern timepieces. In what we perceive as our physical universe, spherical planets rotate while moving in circular orbits around larger spherical objects as they hurl through the void of space.
From Stonehenge to medieval calendars to analog wristwatches, humans have attempted to employ circular motifs to harness or understand the passage of time in relationship to space and the physical world in which we exist. This preoccupation with mysteries of the universe, its vast open spaces, punctuated with uncountable heavenly bodies, have puzzled humans from primitive stargazers in ancient worlds to the most educated of scientists of our time.
My interest lies in the investigation, through the medium of abstract painting, of our perception and translation of these elements, both tangible and intangible. My abstract work also refers to and acknowledges significant art historical aspects of painting, in this case, Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, and Hard Edge painting. My choice to begin on a circular structure creates a visual container that refers to the essence of repetition and endless nature of this circle, and of time and space. The outlying edges of these circular paintings consist of rapidly applied, highly chromatic brushstrokes, tightly compressed within hard-edge boundaries that surround the exterior regions of the canvas. My signature brushwork has been compared to the complexities of Gothic stained glass and Byzantine mosaics. Ultimately, within the center if these circular objects, lie wide-open spaces. A sort of an abyss, if you will. Soft fields of color appear to float somewhere behind the polychromed circular edges of the canvas surface. Within these soft fields of color, one can get lost in the sensations of light and color and the ambiguity of its space, while contemplating its meaning, or meditating upon the object itself.
Whether it be self-defined as simply a series of colors and textures on a tangible circular object, or a metaphor of the physical and metaphysical state in which we exist, is purely the prerogative of the viewer.
General Statement
Having worked as a painter for nearly four decades, my goal has consistently been to produce work that challenges traditional notions about the nature of painting and its processes. A significant aspect of my work is to question the validity of the traditional rectilinear canvas structure, which continues to be the dominant format of the majority of painting being produced today. Early on in my career, I abandoned the notion that the basic square or rectangle was a sufficient structure on which to create a painting. I believe the window-like connotations of the traditional canvas to be antiquated and far too indebted to that of early Western European painting, along with all of its preconceptions and conventional limitations. These restrictive parameters are decisively not suitable for the physical structure and visual impact of the paintings I need to produce. It is also evident that my works are a cross-pollination of painting and sculpture. An additional goal is to reappraise and comment on the ever-evolving issues of art and society, continuing throughout history and into today's contemporary genres.
