Artist's Statement
Art has always been a priority in my life; I never decided to become an artist, it seems I simply always was. I create art because I must. Once a nighttime painter, working only when the moon was high in the sky and the world was quiet, I have adapted my style now to accommodate a full, rich life that must include studio time. It is in these moments of solitude with my brushes and paint that I feel most alive. I create on canvas and/or paper during these moments, but I am continuously creating in my mind. I paint most of my pictures and write most of my stories and poems in my mind long before I ever commit them to canvas or paper.
Recently I have been focusing on the idea of duality as well as channeling ancestral energy, the energy of the natural world, and the energy that I’m infused with by cities and urban environments. Everything is inspiration - a discarded receipt on a Helsinki street, swaying grasses on the dunes on South Carolina’s Isle of Palms, the homes of relatives in small towns that we visited when I was a child.
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My goal for 2024 new works is to capture something about the bonds of family heritage, the wild spaces of the rural American South, (where growing up can be an almost feral experience – I spent the bulk of my childhood in the woods) and the influence of urban areas, where I found myself reinvented as an artist and a person. But also to explore the concept of duality, and who are we, really?
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How do we bridge duality, being more than one person, from the person we are now to our family heritage, our raising, when it is so different? How do we come so far from where we started, and where our ancestors began? My new work will explore this concept, seeking to create a bridge between past and future with the present moment while I continue my foray into abstraction and blends of abstraction and realism and focusing on my main love, portraiture.
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View my work here by following the Art tab on the menu and visit Charlotte Fine Art Gallery to see collection there.
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