Statement for "Transcending the Ordinary" at the Providence Art Club, March, 2022
For me, the title of our exhibition “Transcending the Ordinary” reflects a desire to be able to go beyond, for a while, what seems to have become "ordinary" news in our world: the catastrophes of war, geopolitical strife, social discord, political and racial divisiveness, the tragic and inevitable consequences of climate change, and more. My hope is that by viewing this work, perhaps you can tap into beauty and mystery, and transcend the ordinary, if only temporarily.
Energetic, intuitive mark-making, a bold palette and an emotional, process-driven approach to painting characterize my work. Over decades, a close relationship with the natural world and an affinity for landscape have consistently informed my art practice, whether the work is two or three dimensional, figurative or abstract. These recent landscape paintings are energetically rendered studies that reflect my emotional connection to beauty and place.
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Statement for "Heart of a Tree" , ArtProv Gallery, Providence, RI June, 2017
"Over decades, my relationship with the natural world and an affinity for landscape have consistently informed my art practice, whether the work is two or three dimensional. In 2005 I began working sculpturally with branches, bones, vines and other organic materials, hearkening back to my undergraduate work at RISD in the 1970’s, where I worked in porcelain in combination with materials such as shells, bones, rocks and wood. The resulting body of work from 2005-2012 was a series of “branchworks”: vessels, objects, and twisted and woven organic forms, formed with branches and vines, sometimes combined with found objects.
With a background in both two and three dimensional art, I have continually combined the two, toggling between painting/drawing and sculpture. In all the mediums I have worked in, energetic, intuitive mark-making and an emotional, process-driven approach characterize what I want and need to express."
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Statement for "Reaching for Beauty" solo show at Coastal Living Gallery, Wickford, RI
April, 2015
"Lately I am seeking solace through reaching for beauty— reaching for it in the midst of the ineffable horrors and unspeakable tragedies taking place in the world today.
My recent work is my energetic yet simplistic way of accessing beauty in a world of increasing violence. I simply cannot navigate sanely through the news stories which assault me daily. Mass shootings, absurd road rage murders, unspeakable cruelty to animals, abductions of young schoolgirls, beheadings, genocide, the ravaging of ancient sacred sites and religious art and artifacts, the destruction of peoples and indeed whole cultures, all due to the hatred, greed and savagery of men who impose their will upon others through violence and terror.
I’m not trained in any way to assist those who are truly suffering. Like many others, I feel helpless about the sorrow and tragedy happening in the world. As an artist and an overly sensitive soul, my way of coping, at present, is to simply reach for beauty through the work I feel called to create."
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Statement for "Seeking Place", solo show at Van Vessem Gallery, Tiverton RI. October 2014
"These landscapes are studies of vista and place, and also explorations beyond place. While actual places referenced include Mount Desert Island, ME; Rhode Island, the Connecticut shoreline and Norway, the paintings are also meant to evoke emotion and memory devoid of a specific place. Through gestural brushwork, layering of color, spontaneous calligraphy and intuitive mark-making, I want the viewer to experience the energy of a place. For me, the physicality of the unconscious creative process often takes precedence over conscious aesthetic decision-making, resulting in what I feel is more an energetic expression rather than a pictorial depiction.
In my most recent exploration of landscape, I am isolating sections of previous paintings and using them as references to create abstracted studies. They are meant to suggest to the viewer a sense of someplace he/she may or may not have been; what is offered are abstracted vistas with arresting titles, isolated fragments of place which are rendered energetically, with an unbridled palette. My intention with this recent work is to ignite memory, question, and mystery about the personal and emotional places we seek."
October, 2014
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Statement for "What Really Matters", October, 2010 solo show at Alexey Von Schlippe Gallery of Art, University of Connecticut, Groton CT,
"Much of the work shown here is the result of my MFA thesis, and was shown in my thesis exhibition “It’s Not What You Thought” in April, 2010 at the Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Johnson State College, Johnson VT. The show was then mounted at Cate Charles Gallery, Stonington, in May. The imagery and metaphor revolve around relationship, trust and loss, and transformation. In going forward with this work, other thoughts and imagery have been coming to the forefront for me, about what really matters.
“What really matters” can be a statement, defining what is perceived as true and important, or it can be a question, perhaps stated rhetorically. At any given moment, in a day, an hour, a year, a lifetime, what really matters can change in a heartbeat. We can change our assumptions about what really matters at will, or they can be changed radically for us, when something happens that brings a drastic wake-up call into our lives. What really matters depends on how we react to an experience, a thought, a feeling, and it is different for each of us.
Perhaps what really matters is moving forward into the next moment, in the best way possible. Or using our personal journeys and whatever pain, joy, exhilaration and disappointment we experience through them as a cathartic opportunity to discover what else really matters. Or simply being present in such a way that our existence contributes to the lives of others.
Maybe what really matters is having an epiphany-like moment, an “aha”, discovering perhaps that what you thought really mattered, didn’t really, at all.
“What really matters” is a question, also an answer. You can ask it of yourself, or another. You get to fill in the blank."
October, 2010
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Statement for “It’s Not What You Thought”, MFA Thesis Exhibition, April, 2010. Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Johnson State College, Johnson VT
"What is the nature of meaningful relationship? Ultimately, the underlying element is trust. This extends to objects as well: when we sit down, we trust the chair. When we lie down, we trust the bed. When we are in relationship with another person, we trust each other. For a relationship between two people to develop and flourish, trust is paramount.
What does a chair represent? A bed? A boat? Chairs are safe places to rest. We sit in them to contemplate, or share conversation with others. Beds are for sleeping and dreaming in, alone or with another. A bed offers a place for recovery and healing, as well as the ultimate place to share intimacy, sex, secrets and the safety of sleeping with another person. Boats are vessels in which to journey; journeying leads to discovery of the unknown. A relationship is a vessel in which we are journeying with another. Cairns—piles of stones—are used as waypoints on a journey, and as markers for burial sites.
In the words of poet/psychologist/writer Daphne Rose Kingma, “A relationship is a configuration of connection. It is the container in which we mix ourselves with others, the container in which, together with them, we hold ourselves in a certain way.”
Thematically, this body of work is an exploration of relationship: between self and another, self and self, and self and the relationship; the relationship as object. Instability and danger are visually present; text as markmaking inks in emotion and question. Symbols, metaphor and conceptual nuance reference tension, emotional paradox and irony. It is up to you, the viewer, to create your own story around this work, discovering that perhaps "it’s not what you thought."
April, 2010
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Statement for "Transcending the Ordinary" at the Providence Art Club, March, 2022
For me, the title of our exhibition “Transcending the Ordinary” reflects a desire to be able to go beyond, for a while, what seems to have become "ordinary" news in our world: the catastrophes of war, geopolitical strife, social discord, political and racial divisiveness, the tragic and inevitable consequences of climate change, and more. My hope is that by viewing this work, perhaps you can tap into beauty and mystery, and transcend the ordinary, if only temporarily.
Energetic, intuitive mark-making, a bold palette and an emotional, process-driven approach to painting characterize my work. Over decades, a close relationship with the natural world and an affinity for landscape have consistently informed my art practice, whether the work is two or three dimensional, figurative or abstract. These recent landscape paintings are energetically rendered studies that reflect my emotional connection to beauty and place.
*****************
Statement for "Heart of a Tree" , ArtProv Gallery, Providence, RI June, 2017
"Over decades, my relationship with the natural world and an affinity for landscape have consistently informed my art practice, whether the work is two or three dimensional. In 2005 I began working sculpturally with branches, bones, vines and other organic materials, hearkening back to my undergraduate work at RISD in the 1970’s, where I worked in porcelain in combination with materials such as shells, bones, rocks and wood. The resulting body of work from 2005-2012 was a series of “branchworks”: vessels, objects, and twisted and woven organic forms, formed with branches and vines, sometimes combined with found objects.
With a background in both two and three dimensional art, I have continually combined the two, toggling between painting/drawing and sculpture. In all the mediums I have worked in, energetic, intuitive mark-making and an emotional, process-driven approach characterize what I want and need to express."
************************
Statement for "Reaching for Beauty" solo show at Coastal Living Gallery, Wickford, RI
April, 2015
"Lately I am seeking solace through reaching for beauty— reaching for it in the midst of the ineffable horrors and unspeakable tragedies taking place in the world today.
My recent work is my energetic yet simplistic way of accessing beauty in a world of increasing violence. I simply cannot navigate sanely through the news stories which assault me daily. Mass shootings, absurd road rage murders, unspeakable cruelty to animals, abductions of young schoolgirls, beheadings, genocide, the ravaging of ancient sacred sites and religious art and artifacts, the destruction of peoples and indeed whole cultures, all due to the hatred, greed and savagery of men who impose their will upon others through violence and terror.
I’m not trained in any way to assist those who are truly suffering. Like many others, I feel helpless about the sorrow and tragedy happening in the world. As an artist and an overly sensitive soul, my way of coping, at present, is to simply reach for beauty through the work I feel called to create."
*******************
Statement for "Seeking Place", solo show at Van Vessem Gallery, Tiverton RI. October 2014
"These landscapes are studies of vista and place, and also explorations beyond place. While actual places referenced include Mount Desert Island, ME; Rhode Island, the Connecticut shoreline and Norway, the paintings are also meant to evoke emotion and memory devoid of a specific place. Through gestural brushwork, layering of color, spontaneous calligraphy and intuitive mark-making, I want the viewer to experience the energy of a place. For me, the physicality of the unconscious creative process often takes precedence over conscious aesthetic decision-making, resulting in what I feel is more an energetic expression rather than a pictorial depiction.
In my most recent exploration of landscape, I am isolating sections of previous paintings and using them as references to create abstracted studies. They are meant to suggest to the viewer a sense of someplace he/she may or may not have been; what is offered are abstracted vistas with arresting titles, isolated fragments of place which are rendered energetically, with an unbridled palette. My intention with this recent work is to ignite memory, question, and mystery about the personal and emotional places we seek."
October, 2014
**********************
Statement for "What Really Matters", October, 2010 solo show at Alexey Von Schlippe Gallery of Art, University of Connecticut, Groton CT,
"Much of the work shown here is the result of my MFA thesis, and was shown in my thesis exhibition “It’s Not What You Thought” in April, 2010 at the Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Johnson State College, Johnson VT. The show was then mounted at Cate Charles Gallery, Stonington, in May. The imagery and metaphor revolve around relationship, trust and loss, and transformation. In going forward with this work, other thoughts and imagery have been coming to the forefront for me, about what really matters.
“What really matters” can be a statement, defining what is perceived as true and important, or it can be a question, perhaps stated rhetorically. At any given moment, in a day, an hour, a year, a lifetime, what really matters can change in a heartbeat. We can change our assumptions about what really matters at will, or they can be changed radically for us, when something happens that brings a drastic wake-up call into our lives. What really matters depends on how we react to an experience, a thought, a feeling, and it is different for each of us.
Perhaps what really matters is moving forward into the next moment, in the best way possible. Or using our personal journeys and whatever pain, joy, exhilaration and disappointment we experience through them as a cathartic opportunity to discover what else really matters. Or simply being present in such a way that our existence contributes to the lives of others.
Maybe what really matters is having an epiphany-like moment, an “aha”, discovering perhaps that what you thought really mattered, didn’t really, at all.
“What really matters” is a question, also an answer. You can ask it of yourself, or another. You get to fill in the blank."
October, 2010
**********************
Statement for “It’s Not What You Thought”, MFA Thesis Exhibition, April, 2010. Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Johnson State College, Johnson VT
"What is the nature of meaningful relationship? Ultimately, the underlying element is trust. This extends to objects as well: when we sit down, we trust the chair. When we lie down, we trust the bed. When we are in relationship with another person, we trust each other. For a relationship between two people to develop and flourish, trust is paramount.
What does a chair represent? A bed? A boat? Chairs are safe places to rest. We sit in them to contemplate, or share conversation with others. Beds are for sleeping and dreaming in, alone or with another. A bed offers a place for recovery and healing, as well as the ultimate place to share intimacy, sex, secrets and the safety of sleeping with another person. Boats are vessels in which to journey; journeying leads to discovery of the unknown. A relationship is a vessel in which we are journeying with another. Cairns—piles of stones—are used as waypoints on a journey, and as markers for burial sites.
In the words of poet/psychologist/writer Daphne Rose Kingma, “A relationship is a configuration of connection. It is the container in which we mix ourselves with others, the container in which, together with them, we hold ourselves in a certain way.”
Thematically, this body of work is an exploration of relationship: between self and another, self and self, and self and the relationship; the relationship as object. Instability and danger are visually present; text as markmaking inks in emotion and question. Symbols, metaphor and conceptual nuance reference tension, emotional paradox and irony. It is up to you, the viewer, to create your own story around this work, discovering that perhaps "it’s not what you thought."
April, 2010
BLOG SECTIONS