THE SUBSTANCE OF MATTER

 Careful observation is at the core of my practice.  An appreciation for the complexities of the natural world drives my desire to work slowly and methodically, meditatively building one small element on top of another. The deliberate process of meticulously drawing and cutting everything by hand allows for a more intimate examination of the materials, which in turn draws me closer to the subject.  The methodical pouring of thin layers of paint and the waiting for it to dry requires great patience and the opportunity for reflection. Once the observational drawings are complete, I then stop looking and start responding to the essence of my experience. How did it feel to be in the presence of the hot springs in Yellowstone? Not just how did it look, but how did it feel?  This is where the more imaginative elements of the drawing come into play.
 
The Substance of Matter is a series of works that resulted from my observations of three elements in nature: Water, Air and Rocks. “Rocks” is a result of a winter residency in Wyoming in 2018. “Water” is derived from observations of sea grass, as well as, the mineral pools in Yellowstone National Park. “Air” is a response to a flock of chimney swifts that migrate every year to my neighborhood. All of these elements in nature behave and respond to their surroundings in different ways, yet they all have the same planet in common and are all interconnected. 

This first Portfolio is about Air: 

AIR: INSTINCTIVE NAVIGATION
 
Birds represent the opposite of stillness.  Birds and air are inextricably bound.  Air is ethereal and illusive and can literally slip through your fingers. While humans only dream of being able to fly, birds have harnessed the power of air to defy gravity and travel unimaginable distances. Every year around late September, a flock of chimney swifts stop over in Baltimore during their fall migration south. At the end of my street stands an old bookbinding factory with an enormous abandoned chimney. Each night, at dusk, thousands of chimney swifts gather near the factory to engage in a swirling whirlpool of motion before diving head first into the chimney for a good night’s sleep.  This installation depicts the spiraling motion of the birds as they prepare for their dive. I have always been mesmerized by their ability to plunge one at a time into the chimney at top speed without ever crashing into one another.
 
The birds are composed of Japanese wood veneer paper. They are formed by burning and laser cutting. Each bird is dipped in melted wax and attached to the wall with an entomological pin. As the birds get closer to their destination their shape morphs into an abstract form.  The flow of the birds becomes a wind tunnel. The painted wall represents what I imagine is happening to the air as a result of the many bodies careening through space. 
 

 

DESCRIPTION FOR ENTANGLEMENTS, CAUSE AND EFFECT AND SUBTLE DISTURBANCE

Much of my free time is spent walking in the woods, along seashores and riverbeds looking intimately at fallen objects, looking up at the sky, looking down at growing and dying organisms and trying to understand the essential tendencies of nature. Water, wind, clouds, rocks, moss, algae, insects, birds. Each of these has a pattern in life that is driven by different motivations, but each of these also lives within an ecosystem that inextricably binds them together. The way a flock of a thousand chimney swifts dive into a chimney one at a time never bumping into one another but moving at the speed of a thousand race cars. The way that the sun rays beam through a billowing black cloud formation just in time to cast a yellow light on the reddest Japanese Maple in the whole neighborhood. The way a powerful wind storm can churn up the waves in Lake Huron so much that is looks like the ocean. These are the things that influence my work. Within each of these observations is the essence of Nature.

The natural world can be simultaneously beautiful and destructive. Although humans have developed technologies and medicines to overcome the powers of nature, we are often reminded of its omniscient force when we are faced with natural disasters or incurable disease. For me, nature is a friendly presence, but I am also wary of its ability to surprise us with unpredictable behaviors. I honor its strength by never assuming that I know too much and by keeping my sense of individual power in check.

I am baffled by the way nature disintegrates, destroys, rejuvenates and restores itself in spite of human interference. I am interested in the rhythm of life that beats inside living organisms, as well as the revolving cycle of decay and growth that occurs in the world as a whole.

I feel that this work underscores the opposing forces in Nature: Magnetism vs. repulsion; contraction vs. expansion; growth vs. decay; and beauty vs. ugliness. The combination of these polarities is functioning internally and externally in Nature simultaneously. Though these terms would tend to suggest both positive and negative forces working at odds within Nature, it is important to withhold judgment when considering the framework in which these forces function. Whether a process is benign or malignant is almost irrelevant because each process operates under a basic presumption: It is just doing what it's been programmed to do. Every organism, whether it is nourishing or damaging (to humans), ends up going through this process of decay as well. You see it in everything. The only reason we judge it as good or bad is in the context of whether it hurts or helps us. This is a reflection of what I feel is happening in nature

PROCESS

When I sit down in the studio to create this work, I don't have a grand plan of how it is going to turn out. I allow my response to visual stimuli navigate me through the creation of multiple elements that will eventually go into the installation. I tend to be keenly in tune with my surroundings, which can be both a benefit and a curse. I say curse because I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the expansive visual stimuli within the world. But this is what drives my desire to work slowly and methodically, meditatively building one small element on top of another. I set before me a task that is seemingly impossible to complete as I collect, cut, paste, and draw everything by hand. However, this time-consuming, arduous process forces me to spread the task out over time and gives me a chance to truly examine the materials and the subject to their fullest capacity. By focusing at smaller details, I am able to concentrate on subject matter that is easier to digest.

The making of the elements is a very controlled process (I am compensating for the fact that I have no control over Nature). The only elements I can control are my detailed drawings and cut paper. While the task of making the objects takes months and sometimes years to complete, the installation itself is a fluid, intuitive process that is conceived on the spot and completed within a week. As I approach the gallery, there is no preconception of how the work will take shape. The landscape seems to grow of its own volition and often echoes what goes on in nature, both inside and outside our bodies.

MATERIALS

I use a lot of recycled materials: Phone books, wax, toilet paper rolls, old drawings, found paper, dirt. Though I am not making a political statement on conservation, my consideration of materials is a personal choice and is reflective of my desire not to leave a heavy footprint on the earth with my art; I want my art to add awareness without adding clutter.

Moreover, I feel that it is important to use materials that have a long process, or history, behind them. That is, I consider the materials and their origins and the processes by which they become transformed into objects used in art. Basically, I am considering two separate but integral levels; there is the actual object and from where it came and then there is the transformation of the object into something new.

INTENTION

I believe if the work is successful it should compel the viewer to recognize himself/herself on a more cellular level, like recognizing what we are within our bodies. Think of a mirror as a microscope: Instead of seeing a face or any external features, you see the internal make-up of the person. The subconscious may then begin to recognize that we are all made up of the same elements as every other living organism on earth.

I also want the viewer to notice things they might normally disregard or overlook and to be reminded of the invisible world that exists beneath the surface of our awareness.

I encourage the audience to come into the space and be enveloped by it and allow themselves to respond to it. Do not feel that you have to step back from it and maintain a safe distance. I invite you to get close to the materials, to smell them, to view them from different angles, going as far as to lay on the floor and look up at the components from your back! It is important that you interact with the piece.

Therefore, this is not a static piece of artwork. It is a piece that continues to grow in my studio and actually changes as it travels from gallery to gallery; it is evolving and developing as it goes from one place to the next. I don’t consider the components as finished works of art. Instead, I consider them as works in progress.

Definition of Gravity is a series that was commissioned by a Law Firm in Washington DC. The firm asked me to create Sixteen 18" x 18" drawings that would also work together as a cohesive whole. I was given full decision making power in terms of the compositions and materials and how the drawings were to be made.  I began the process by making 16 very loose and non descript light paintings on paper with watered down acrylic ink.  After letting these dry, I returned to the series with another layer of ink. Each time the layer would dry, I returned again with another layer, adding collage elements and pen, ink and pencil. Each time I approached the drawings, I alternated back and forth between minute details and loose strokes.  My approach was and continues to be very intuitive, playful and non judgemental,  allowing each mark to inform the one that comes next.  All of the drawings have added and subtracted elements that push and pull the imagery creating the illusion of depth and space as well as movement. The goal was for each piece in the series to both stand on their own, as well as be an integral part of the energy and composition of the whole.  When viewed as a series the drawings dance and float and move across the wall. 

The drawings here are influenced by my personal observation and study of the waterways in and around Baltimore City. I have done a lot of wandering along the streams of Baltimore with my camera, discovering both beautiful crystal clear areas, as well as, oily polluted areas. Photographing upclose both above and beneath the water prompted my desire to learn about the actual internal chemical makeup of the water that we love. The drawings in this series are a response to the visual imagery that came out of my explorations in the streams, in addition to my research regarding Baltimore City and its struggle with sewage overflow and stream contamination. 

LARGE CUT PAPER DRAWINGS 2015-16
In response to the linear flat quality of the larger scale installations, these drawings are an attempt to focus more on depth and space within each drawing. While the large scale installations such as Subtle Disturbance and Cause and Effect sought to reconfigure the space they inhabited, these smaller drawings invite the viewer to step inside the atmosphere created by layered ink on paper. 

SMALL CUT PAPER DRAWINGS 2015-16
I see these drawings as small installations. They behave in much the same way as the large scale installations by occupying the space in a three dimensional way, but their small scale makes them look more like specimens. 
These drawings are not preconceived. I first create a variety of drawings on paper and then cut them out. Later, I arrange the drawings in formations that work together and attach them to the surface with sewing pins. 

SEE DESCRIPTION FOR ENTANGLEMENTS