I use drawing, painting, installation and interactive projects to invite people to a place of quiet contemplation, peace and interconnectedness with the world around us.
Repetition is a thread that runs through many of the works, whether it’s the repeated action of voicing someone’s wish or the mantra-like painting of thousands of tiny arcs on a painting. This repetition in the creation of the work is a soothing meditative practice for me, imbuing the work with mindfulness and presence. The lightness of the materials – paper, mylar, pins, fabric, water, glass, plastic, fluid washes of paint – lends an ethereal quality.
These paintings are an invitation to still the mind and drift into peaceful inner awareness. I begin with numerous layers of paint built up to a rich, luminous glow. Colors, glazes and iridescent pigments are brushed, sanded, sprayed and rubbed onto the panel. After which I pour several layers of clear acrylic and a non-toxic resin to create a deep, glassy surface. This surface allows subsequent brushstrokes and shapes to appear to float above, casting shadows on the color below. This distance creates an illusional as well as a physical depth. These compositions are characterized by thousands of repeated tiny arcs or hushed ovals and spheres in barely perceptible shifts of sheen from matte to gloss. The act of painting row upon row of crescents brings me softly into the present moment, offering the viewer that same space of rest and respite. After experimenting with various marks, I arrived at this particular shape for its soft, gentle quality that defies any particular reference.
The works on paper connect with the tradition of anonymous Tantric drawings of India that have so moved me with their intense power and clarity. By first establishing a strong centered place within myself through deep meditation, I transmit that state through the drawings. The intimate format of these drawings encourages their use as objects of inner contemplation.