ARTIST STATEMENT

I invite the viewer to explore layers of time and the link between memory and emotion. Stripping away these layers, forgotten artifacts are discovered. The viewer may not understand exactly what they are seeing; all is open to interpretation. One may fill in the blanks with nostalgia, generalities, or lies. Instead of neatly arranging time and memories in linear fashion, I am showing it the way I experience it in my brain: all at once, swirling, messy and on the brink of overwhelm. Hopefully, these Images, like memories, trigger emotion. Like memories, some are fuzzy and about to disappear while others suddenly come to the surface and challenge us to decipher the truth.

Recently I have been using a technique of tearing away one layer to show what is undrneath. This technique is risky and leaves more to chance than the traditional method. I use different papers, found scraps and objects, my own ink and graphite drawings, various adhesives and paint . Some of my influences are Kurt Schwitters, Ray Johnson, McDermott & McGough, Pop, Dada, Surrealism, wabi-sabi, comics, “commercial art” and illustration. I find inspiration in abandoned buildings, scratchy jazz records, and moldy high school yearbooks.