Lichens on Gary Oak Bark Painting

ARTIST STATEMENT My practice defies easy categorization, operating instead within formal and conceptual slippages between abstract modernist, minimalist, and representative art. The consistency across my work is the emotional response I have to function, form, and patterns primarily occurring in small, overlooked, and seemingly insignificant components of the natural world. Trees and forests hold special interest, with my focus mostly on the micro-level - on bark and wood – and its textures, colors, and the life forms that find a home there. The artistic process starts with close observation. The work is usually meticulous, closely cropped, inviting viewers to draw near for a closer look and allowing a more intimate portrait to emerge. Colour, pattern, or luminosity are enhanced to let the complexity shine through. With paintings, I often use acrylic ink applied as a stain on natural, unprimed, low-weave cotton, rather than layering paint on primed canvas, thereby reducing the environmental impact of acrylic or oil. Drawings are on paper using ink and colored pencils, while collages are usually constructed with dyed mulberry paper mounted on a wood panel. The use of simple, artisanal materials reflects the Arte Provera movement and my work has been inspired particularly by Giuseppe Penone. Other influences are the minimalist traditions, the German painter Gerhard Richter, and the American artist Helen Frankenthaler. I search for that fluidity of line and sensitivity of color that describes shapes and forms. Not disguising or hiding the meaning, I celebrate what the eye often overlooks.