There is quite a bit of storytelling in my work that originates from the cowboy culture of my youth in Texas. Pragmatic truths are brushed aside to teach the moral lessons generated by Tall Tales. I recognize a certain humor that hinges on pathos in the South, where the existential message is wrapped up in a quiet punch line; and I’m rooted in a culture obsessed with hyperbole and dualities: simple and complicated, lonely and romantic, brutal and kind.
I’m drawn to the subtleties in life. What is most fulfilling to me is to investigate all the little pieces of my personality in order to discover my own individuality. My failures are considered just as important because they are derivatives that work towards a future goal. A body of work that is preconceived as being banal is most often times the most generous and rewarding experience I can have with art. The energy of combining a meaning to an image in the most efficient mode of translation stimulates an authentic relationship between the viewer and me. It is an act of sharing. It’s not important to me to know what I’m doing, but that I convey my attempts at production sincerely.
By evoking the senses of sight, sound, touch and even scent, my paintings retain a synesthetic quality that I associate with the garage band and DIY culture I’ve always had an interest in. I try to subtract the excessive amount of signifiers in a subject to create a deeper and more energetic understanding of the properties a painting can express. I consider my process as more of an ‘extraction’ than ‘abstraction’ because I systematically pare down my mode of creation to achieve an economic result otherwise thought of as “raw”. The most enriching moments I find in my practice is the understanding that less is more, there are no easy metaphors and that confidence and ingenuity can liberate new artistic forms.

Education:

BFA from The Art Institute of Chicago 2008
MFA at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) Hoffberger Painting Program