Artist Statement

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The stories and motivations that fuel my paintings come from my life experiences. I adhere to narrative pictures filled with symbols found in isolated rural landscapes. I strive to convey the duality of beauty and tragedy found in life and nature.

 

As a teenager, I spent several summers visiting my sister’s family in a small rural community in north Georgia and roamed alone over her neighbor's large fields. I trespassed over fences, continuously free , and never approached while observing many of these lonely homesteads. I learned that isolation can be either beautiful or tragic, depending on how each soul attempts to manage their life and their relationship with the world. 

 

The bulk of my paintings represent the paradox between a life of solitude or engagement. While solitude can protect the inhabitant from the outside world, engaging with others offers a wider experience. You might see the darker side of isolation symbolized by vast stretches of land, shadowed doorways, storm clouds, or overly bold fences that interrupt the viewer's gaze or dominate the landscape. I also show the warmer attributes with open doorways and fences, blue skies, and animals, among other images.

 

The scenarios that I portray are emblems of human psychological dramas painted with the intent of allowing the viewer to decipher each painting in their own allegorical light. I firmly believe in the power of the mind and in one’s ability to create one's own hell or haven in this world. With paint and canvas, I want to challenge myself and my viewers to think differently about the boundaries that we build around ourselves, to peek over or tear down some of those barriers so that we might feel more, see more, and become more connected in our everyday existence.