Traces of Earthly Things

My strongest memories are visual. I feel connected to the moments of my life that have left imprints in my mind, traces of events that are still thick with color, energy, and purpose. I make paintings, collages, and installations that are visual combinations of events, land forms, and places from the present and the past. Through the repeated reworking of images and ideas in each piece, I reform my own concepts of space and time. Each aspect of my multi-step process changes not only the physical features of a piece, but also the original recollection that generated it. Through this kind of conscious abstraction, I relate past to present, and visualize the transitory nature of experience. The combination of recognizable and abstract imagery establishes the core of my work, aiming to characterize the relationship of place and time. While objects, people, or places can sometimes be found in the finished pieces, nothing is complete – colors and shapes collide and overlap, reflecting the mind’s capacity to rapidly recover thoughts and formulate ideas. With every change, manipulation, addition, or subtraction that I make, meaning shifts, ideas connect or rupture, and the vague, ambiguous images in my mind are given a physical presence. I am an active, conscious participant in the replacing of my old thoughts with new, physical objects that include multiple ideas and moments in time