My Art Show 2013

My Art Show 2013

Throughout my body of work you will notice the influences of surrealism and abstraction with symbolic representation of my subjects.  These styles allow me to express my interpretation of the world as if it were fanciful and, at times, somewhat strange.  My ideas come from subjects ranging from video games to nature to human emotions and dreams.  I have noticed two breakthroughs in my painting technique with this body of work.  One is the ability to control and create geometric lines and shapes by using a masking technique throughout the development of the painting.  Second, I have been pushed to be spontaneous with my work allowing ideas to emerge from the use of materials.

Dinner for a Kraken

Dinner for a Kraken is a good example of how I like to use shading in my drawings.  I do not really know where some of my ideas come from; they just bubble up as I’m working.  Images tend to evolve as my mind overflows with surrealistic tendencies.

Underwater Volcano

Window to the Ocean

Galactic Snot

Snail Shell

Ape Man

Phoenix vs. Dragon

Yin-Yang Eye Ball

When creating Window to the Ocean, Underwater Volcano, Galactic Snot, Snail Shell, Ape Man, Phoenix vs. Dragon, and Yin-Yang Eye Ball, I was pushed to use acrylic paint in new ways.  With each work of art, instead of starting with a specific idea, I experimented with various combinations of color, lines, shapes, and patterns – much like brainstorming.  During this experimentation or incubation phase an image or idea emerges and inspires the direction of my work.  This has helped me gain insight and react to the work as it is developing rather than becoming disappointed with the outcome when it isn’t what I initially intended.  This flexible thinking has aroused more creativity in my works.  It is difficult to fully conceive of an idea at the beginning of a composition.  Being prepared to adjust and work with inspiration as it comes has led me to more complicated outcomes.

The Eye of Death

The Severed Nightmare.

Expanding my understanding of shading forms and creating transparencies, I explored oil pastels by drawing The Eye of Death and The Severed Nightmare.  Influence for the first of these two drawings came from a cartoon called “The Raven” which opens as a lighted candle melts atop a human skull.  In my version, the skull transforms into a cloaked personification of death surrounded by an eerie mist.  The mist represents the overwhelmingly repugnant and vomit inducing stench of the walking dead.  The Severed Nightmare was influenced by a dream where I was immobilized with fear by a horrifying, vein-bursting severed arm that was hovering towards me.

Do What ‘cha Dodo, EXTINCTION

The painting Do What ‘cha Dodo, EXTINCTION is a surrealistic world filled with imagery from cartoons.  The masking technique allows me to achieve hard edge geometry in a world overtaken by mystical smog.

An example of a complicated outcome is The M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.O., v2.0 which evolved over nearly 6 months.  Each new application of materials led to a more complicated whole in the end.  My original thoughts for this sculpture were based on Cartoon Network’s Kids Next Door M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.O. ship which required my researching real mosquito insects for the form.  Next, I determined that plaster gauze, a new material for me, would be appropriate for the construction and fusion of ideas for my sculpture, including metal dinosaur-like sails, plating, and spikes.  In the end the sculpture cried out for a complete environment.  This idea inspired me to create the golden, brick and mortar paved pathway upon which the sculpture is mounted.

The art I create is meant to express my visual experiences, both from dreams and from real-life encounters.  When that happens, I believe I have succeeded in my goal.  Each piece is the end result of a journey.  I hope you enjoy traveling with me.