Artist Statement
Everyone suffers.
Everyone.
You. Me. Your friends. Even the person you think has the perfect life.
Especially that person.
I work with broken and rejected materials, uncovering the intrinsic beauty within the discarded. After cutting and polishing, I then torture and burn and adorn with chains and nails and barbed wire- materials that all have dual meaning. Chain restrains but also supports. Nails pierce but also connect. Barbed wire cuts but protects everything it surrounds. Such is life. Light and dark cannot exist without each other. Rejection and acceptance are two sides of the same fluid circle. Good or bad is entirely dependent on perspective.
When I begin a new series I have a general idea of where it will go, but no clear roadmap as to how I will get there. I follow the work where it leads. When I’m finished, I perform a “forensic interpretation” to decipher its meaning and context within the series. I’m always surprised and enlightened by what I discover. The entire process is pure joy.
I am drawn to abstract art because I believe it’s a mirror for the subconscious mind, reflecting the viewer’s greatest hopes and darkest fears; revealing the true source of joy and suffering, if you choose to see it.
Everyone suffers. But it’s your suffering that makes you strong.