Artist’s Statement

Inquiry and introspection about the interconnectedness of things drives my need to create. Processing thoughts, ideas and observations is the nature of my studio activity. Through the creation of images, symbols and visual narratives I explore my being and belongingness. This investigation helps me access my own truths and facilitates my understanding of the world in a broader context.

Printmaking processes serve the conceptual development of my images and satisfy my passion for working with materials. I use screen printing to make one-of-a-kind prints that evolve through the loosely planned yet complex layering of ink and color. This process welcomes serendipitous results and uses unintended consequences as opportunity. I do not hesitate to hand-cut an intricate stencil, or make a photo-stencil, with plans to use it only once. Completed works are realized as original prints, artists books and installations.

I am interested in visual language development including its construction, intentionality, ambiguity, contradictions, translation and interpretation. My works function as conscious maps, providing visual routes for evolving ideas, advancing understanding and constructing meaning. Each mark metaphorically documents a thought experience, comments on an inquiry, or reveals a process of thinking. A project example is Art Icons, where 49 icons reference economic, technological, health, spiritual, environmental and social justice issues pertinent to a healthy democracy. With these works, meaning evolves and diversifies over time.

Since 2016 I have been inventing organisms that celebrate the ecosystem of our planet and the Universe–all space, time, matter and energy. They express my interest in wonder, beauty, interconnectedness, reason, traits, evolution, healing, aging and death. Making imaginary cells gives me hope that creativity and intelligence will prevail over the greed and ignorance that contributes to the destruction of species biodiversity. 

My large scale installations aim to help people make connections to the natural world through a positive and visceral sensory experience. Symbiosis, a March 2022 site-specific installation in San Jose, California presents an arrangement of 60 Specimens suggesting evolution, mitosis, earthly purpose, infinity, and mathematical certainty. With this work I am interested in evolution from a single mother cell, order and complexity without management, understanding and reciprocity as a cycle of giving and receiving, the joy of being in the garden of earthly delight, and how humans approach their every day. Additional installation examples include: Genetic Garden and Omnis Cellula e Cellula, both created from Cells 1-56.