STATEMENT OF WORK

My current paintings are part of an ongoing exploration of light and color inspired by the forests and deserts of Southern California. This series of work draws influence from the ecosystems of the desert chaparral, examining how desert scrub plants grow outwards against the landscape, expanding their root systems to seek out groundwater. I aim to capture the twisted and gnarled forms of the ancient pinyon pines and junipers, sagebrush, and creosote as they break through and obfuscate the deceptively expansive and wrinkling vistas and the light-saturated haze that envelops the surrounding valleys, hills, and mountains.

Drawing and painting within these primordial landscapes provides me with a rich trove of material to be further examined in my studio-based practice. Back in the studio, these direct, observational paintings function as artifacts of my lived experience. These time records form the basis for slower, larger-scale works. In these larger studio paintings, I use accumulated layers of drawing, scrapes, smears, and layers of color that push and pull against one another to create a sense of depth and space. The plein air works bring to the table a specificity of place in terms of atmosphere, density, color, and depth. Through the processes of replication and manipulation, these organic structures transform to take on new forms and meaning. Each piece builds upon another, guiding and creating a memory connected to both the external landscape and to an ever-changing internal microcosm. The convergence of these two modes of working becomes a meditation on time.