Much of my work involves a certain amount of paradox, and is an attempt to reconcile – or at least to address – the inherent contractions in life. I embrace the full spectrum of life; in my paintings I seek to juxtapose peace and chaos, humor and tragedy, realism flirting with the surreal. Painting is both a celebration of and a manifestation of my frustration with the complexity inherent in nature, and the contradictions inherent in life itself - its quirks, inconsistencies and maddening – yet fascinating – non-linear patterns. Realism as the launchpad for my imagemaking, as I find there is an inherently pleasing paradox in the replication of a 3-dimensional world in a 2-dimensional format. I choose to paint because I feel that through visual imagery we can share those incongruities that cannot be explained in words, but rather felt and intuited.

In this most recent series of paintings on printed fabric I’ve allowed myself to be influenced by the printed surface on which I’m working, inventing a narrative in reaction to the fabric pattern within each panel. Animals play a large role in these narratives, as they hold great potential for shape-shifting and anthropomorphism, with ever-changing identities as we humans project onto them our ideas, stories and motivations. Their identity and their concerns – truly unknown to us – can be only a product of our fabrication. And in keeping with my usual intent in paintings, there is room even in a relatively small format to explore the relationship of 2- and 3-dimensional space, as well as the relationship and fabricated narrative between the existing print and the painting.