A Stone's Throw
With surfaces that resemble stark lunar landscapes, shimmering wind-swept beaches, micro atomic structures, cosmic expanses, or scattered confections, the paintings in A Stone’s Throw begin in my backyard. Working on the ground, utilizing bits of gravel and stone as stencils, I build up delicate layers of spray paint on old bed sheets, creating illusionistic surfaces and abstract textures. Some forms appear to float above the surface while others bottom out in valleys and black voids - actual cuts in the fabric.
These paintings are a departure from many years of creating work from data systematically collected from my daily lived experience. I am relaxing former methods of control, foregrounding experimentation and play, and responding to materials in my immediate environment. Working outside with spray paint introduces a host of variables. Wind, insects, dust, and the occasional burst of paint are all contributors to the final image. My work emerges from the tension between intention and chance, and reality and illusion, creating pieces with nature embedded in them.
Image-making has become a form of magic as I create small moments of delight and wonder. Employing humble materials, I stay grounded to place while creating portals to landscapes both familiar and entirely unknown. I want to fall into these paintings and explore a world of my own creation.
