Radiating, Mixed Media, 12″ diameter acrylic on vinyl

I want my imagination to have a memory and to perform an art so well practiced as to appear effortless.

 Early in my career, I studied Byzantine Iconography. It is both part of my cultural heritage as well as a longtime, personal fascination with spiritual objects and universal symbols. Using their formal and structural elements as a departure point, I have worked to create paintings in which symbols could be recognized and reinvented so they may reflect the character of the time in which they were created.

I am drawn to geometry, color and abstract symbols. Every generation searches for its own vocabulary. I feel that one must assimilate knowledge of the past in order to elucidate the present. It is my attempt to create a synthesis of the things which I find meaningful in order to create a new ideal and a personal aesthetic representative of my own generation. I want my imagination to have a memory.

In developing my artistic practice, I have discovered that certain objects often “speak to me”. Sometimes I don’t even know why or where it will lead. But these objects that resonate in a special way — despite seeming quite mundane to the passer by, usually offer a freedom to explore something I otherwise might not discover. I’ve learned to take these things home and let them clutter my studio and not to question the impulse. Because eventually, a purpose is revealed. It is often entirely subconscious, an act of faith. Sometimes it takes years for them to find their place and other times it’s almost immediate,  but it’s usually worth the wait. This response to physical surfaces, texture and form of objects informs my creativity in a magic way, and often gives birth to my next discovery. It it in this spirit of  this discovery that new connections and meaning can be created.