Artist Statement
My primary ongoing artistic concern is to work directly with minimal conceptual underpinnings or sidetracks such as irony or satire.
Thematically I often am driven to imply a ‘center’—an inner quality felt in the work. I generally seek a complex simplicity with no final definitions that can ensnare.
I seek to operate with a kind of ‘relaxed urgency’—an almost carefree approach but with an intuitive discernment at work. With an aspiration to be playful, disciplined and inscrutable while acknowledging the fragile nature of reality—that is the buoyant insecurity at play.
Bio
Born in northern Illinois, I received a double BA in Psychology and Fine Art (Painting & Drawing) from Illinois State University. After graduation I moved to Boulder in 1977 and studied poetry at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poets at Naropa University. I also began a lifelong journey with Tibetan Buddhism. I went onto graduate school at the University of Colorado and received an MFA in Painting.
In 1984, I moved to a loft in Brooklyn where I immersed myself in painting and the Williamsburg art scene, and worked for several years as a studio assistant for the artist Red Grooms. I lived in NYC for eighteen years and had several shows in the city, including solo shows; at Kent Fine Art and Moeller Fine Art. In 1988 I was awarded a NYSFA fellowship in 1988 for sculpture, and began my lifelong interest in mono-printing at Bud Shark’s lithography in Boulder. Elon College has some of those monoprints in their permanent collection.
In 2001 my wife and I moved to the Hudson Valley to await the birth of our twins, Annika & Ryder. I built a studio and home nestled in the Shawangunk mountains and devoted myself to painting and family life.
I am fortunate to have had a consistent, productive life in the studio, and continue to show and present work in various venues. I also appreciate the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY where I’ve been making monotypes for many years, an important part of my work. This whole artistic journey has been an utterly enriching experience despite the inevitable struggles that come along with it. It is an abundant adventure.