Artist Statement

The primary objective of my work is to convey the essence of the natural world.

Within the structural patterns of nature there is an astounding complexity--and an elegant simplicity. Both extremes are just different aspects of the same thing, and it is within this paradox that we all exist.

At various points along this continuum, I stop and try to distill the essence. These paintings are the result.

On one level the paintings could be considered archetypal landscapes, either in a primordial state, or one shaped by human interaction. It's difficult for me not to respond to the edgy relationship between man and nature, between man and woman, between mankind and all the other members of the biosphere. Or for that matter, the relationship of the human species to the physical universe at large.

This wide perceptual swath inevitably results in a somewhat eclectic approach to art, because in seeking to articulate the connectedness of everything, presenting "the big picture" becomes more significant than the various paths leading to it, or the myriad components that comprise it.

I work in a representational mode because it's important to me that the paintings be visually accessible, and I find the landscape genre best suited to these explorations. So in addition to being intimate studies of light, atmosphere, color and tonal value, etc., the paintings can also hopefully serve as metaphors and questions--allowing all the other diverse implications, undercurrents and strata to emerge subtly, beyond the scope of a cursory glance.

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