ARTIST'S STATEMENT

My art reflects my beliefs about the nature of the universe and the interconnectedness of all things. I’m inspired by light and color, Nature, the Earth, the Cosmos, patterns from biology, geometry, astronomy, physics, quantum physics, metaphysics and how they all interact and intersect. I believe there are unseen patterns and structures that exist in multiple dimensions across the multiverse - surrounding, connecting and influencing everything in the material and non-material realms. Some structures exist in the form of waves like light or sound while others take the form of mathematical structures like the Fibonacci Sequence that dictates the spiral patterns seen in many plant forms, or the Golden Ratio expressed in the spirals of galaxies as well as in many life forms. I’m intrigued by such things as string theory in which matter and energy are interchangeable and the tiniest particles turn out to be vibrating waves of energy weaving in and out of multiple dimensions, by the way the vibrational frequencies of sound can translate into visual structures, by the way the frequencies of spinning electrons create color and how color in turn emanates vibrational frequencies, by the mysteries of quantum physics, the mysteries of space-time and the mystery of life. My aim as an artist is to capture the wonder and beauty of those unseen structures and bring them forth into the visible physical world in the form of colors, patterns and images.

I work in both acrylic paint and in digital media. My subjects in both media include light and color, patterns from life, science and math, dots, spots, circles, particles, waves, energy, flowing lines, spirals, mandalas and abstract landscapes. Inspirations include Mark Rothko, Vincent Van Gogh, Victor Vasarely, Yaakov Agam, Hilma af Klint, Brigitte Riley, Op Art of the 60’s and 70’s and the work of Alan Turing on the mathematics underlying the spots and stripes of animals.

Acrylic Paintings: My acrylic paintings incorporate diatomaceous earth (DE) mixed with gel mediums and pigment to create heavily textured surfaces with expressive brush strokes that add movement and energy. DE is a very fine sand like substance made from the skeletons of diatoms (tiny one celled sea creatures) used because of it’s grainy texture and non-reflective quality. I make my own brushes out of dust broom straw to achieve the directional textures. Color and the vibrational and emotional effect it has on the viewer is an important part of my work, with color harmonies and compositions meticulously built from several layers of translucent and opaque paint. The full effect of the color vibrations and energy emanating from my paintings are best appreciated in person.

Digital Images: Although much of my art is digital, I am actually an “old school” artist. I call many of my digital images "digital drawings" because each piece starts as a concept pencil sketch, refined with successive layers of tracing paper. For the repeat patterns, I draw out the design as a pattern tile, then trace the edges several times over until I get a smooth transition at the seams of the pattern tile. The final drawing gets scanned into Adobe Illustrator where I trace over every line and shape by hand using a digital drawing tablet. Sometimes the drawing consists of a grid upon which I place and distort shapes such as circles, one at a time by hand in Illustrator. I also do “digital paintings” using many layers of brush strokes in much the same way as my layered acrylic paintings.