Artist Statement
My paintings are delicately nuanced abstractions—ethereal, resolute, and controlled, with a depth of structure and an inner light that owes more to chiaroscuro than to the Light and Space tradition. Many of my works are restrained, near-monochromatic compositions created by removing layers of oil to uncover frameworks of three-inch parallel or grid-like lines. These lines act as a stabilizing structure, containing the sometimes chaotic fields of color while allowing the viewer to approach them from a place of calm. They echo the ongoing tension in my practice between order and disorder, control and chaos.
I build my surfaces through subtle shifts of hue, value, and movement, layering color in a way that moves between stillness and turbulence. At times, the work may allude to human presence, but it remains firmly rooted in abstraction, guided by resonance rather than description. My practice continues a dialogue with artists who shaped abstraction before me—Rothko, Frankenthaler, Still—while also drawing from Kandinsky, Paladino, and other modern masters, reframed through a language that is distinctly my own.
I live and work in Los Angeles, though I was born in Alabama in 1964. I received my BA in Music and English Literature from Belmont University in Nashville (1988) and continued my studies at Cal State and UCLA. Over the course of my career, I have been honored with recognition, including the Pollock Prize for Creativity (2019/2020) from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, awarded in honor of Lee Krasner for my work associated with the 58th Venice Biennale. Earlier, I received a Pollock-Krasner Grant (2010/2011), Best Foreign Artist from Bluduemila Sporte & Arte in Italy, two Artslant International Abstract Showcase Awards, and the Artistic Merit Award from Art 1307 Cultural Association in Naples. One of the most meaningful moments in my career was the inclusion of my painting Mercy in the permanent collection of the Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples, where it now hangs in dialogue with Caravaggio’s The Seven Works of Mercy.
I build my surfaces through subtle shifts of hue, value, and movement, layering color in a way that moves between stillness and turbulence. At times, the work may allude to human presence, but it remains firmly rooted in abstraction, guided by resonance rather than description. My practice continues a dialogue with artists who shaped abstraction before me—Rothko, Frankenthaler, Still—while also drawing from Kandinsky, Paladino, and other modern masters, reframed through a language that is distinctly my own.
I live and work in Los Angeles, though I was born in Alabama in 1964. I received my BA in Music and English Literature from Belmont University in Nashville (1988) and continued my studies at Cal State and UCLA. Over the course of my career, I have been honored with recognition, including the Pollock Prize for Creativity (2019/2020) from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, awarded in honor of Lee Krasner for my work associated with the 58th Venice Biennale. Earlier, I received a Pollock-Krasner Grant (2010/2011), Best Foreign Artist from Bluduemila Sporte & Arte in Italy, two Artslant International Abstract Showcase Awards, and the Artistic Merit Award from Art 1307 Cultural Association in Naples. One of the most meaningful moments in my career was the inclusion of my painting Mercy in the permanent collection of the Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples, where it now hangs in dialogue with Caravaggio’s The Seven Works of Mercy.
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