Artist Statement No. 1 (shorter version)

I use paintings because they allow me to deploy seemingly opposing strategies simultaneously. We are persistently forced to negotiate between our very human predisposition towards transcendent meaning and the fabricated materiality of the world at large. Similarly, my paintings situate themselves at a point of confliction—between the impressionability of atmospheric abstraction and a state of rigid representation. I am interested in paintings being able to operate both as static windows of idiosyncratic difference and as pieces of capital, subject to intense mobility

My choice to engage this middle-ground—to play both ‘sides’—is not driven by apathy but active ambivalence, a desire for the paintings to alternately be able to foster a meditative encounter and submit to contingency. This oscillation relies not solely on the make-up of the paintings, but also on the context in which they are situated. By emphasizing the relative nature of the work and its reception, I would like to point towards the relative nature of our reception of the world in general. I want the works to be emptied out or full of information or both. They are pregnant, not yet birthing—absent in their presence.

The display strategies I utilize illustrate contingency and reiterate the flexibility (or vulnerability) I have built into the paintings. I think of this flexibility as being metaphorically related to how we, as individuals, shift our personalities and levels of engagement in order to cope with the world at large.

Artist Statement No. 1 (Conventional)

I am resistant to calling myself a painter, even though I almost always make paintings. I use painting because it allows me to deploy seemingly opposing strategies simultaneously. We are persistently forced to negotiate between our very human predisposition towards meaning and the fabricated materiality of the world at large. Similarly, my paintings situate themselves at a point of confliction—between the impressionability of atmospheric abstraction and a state of rigid representation. I am interested in paintings being able to operate both as windows of idiosyncratic difference and as pieces of capital.


My choice to engage this middle-ground—to play both ‘sides’—is not driven by apathy but active ambivalence, a desire for the paintings to alternately foster a meditative encounter and be submissive to social space. This shifting is largely dependent not only on the make-up of the paintings, but also on the context in which the work is situated. By emphasizing the relative nature of the work and its reception, I also would like to direct attention towards the relative nature of our perception in general. It want the works to be emptied out or full of information or both. They are pregnant, not yet birthing—absent in their presence. Fittingly, the paintings are mostly moderate in scale—large enough to approximate our bodies, yet small enough to be easily transportable.


Shown in isolation and dim lighting works to emphasize the ethereality and nebulous nature of the paintings’ images. The fields of foggy color and unfocused forms begin to more overtly reference the transcendental tendencies of someone like Rothko. I want the experience of looking slowly at each painting to be akin to looking up at the clouds; how they locate our bodies in space and encourage free-association. More recently, I have begun to create soundtracks for individual paintings. This sound has become a way to further exaggerate and distort their atmospheric qualities, blending clichés of ambient music with white noise.


Shown en masse, the paintings become prop-like, generic illustrations of ‘abstract painting.’ They are still actual paintings (obviously), however, their standardized scale and plastic decal-like surfaces begin to call attention to their fabrication and the serial nature of their production. They are no longer just pictorial anomalies or windows of difference; they are manufactured goods, mobile and easily relegated to the periphery. One painting’s inconsistencies and individuality become compromised and flattened by its neighbors’. In effect, the personal turns impersonal. The subject becomes the background. In this mode of display, the works are either hung tightly together or stacked in groups on the floor or leaned against a wall. By obfuscating the surfaces through stacking and leaning, I wish to emphasis the paintings as objects or units, to impair their status as Painting.

Artist Statement No. 2 (Interview)

You have hesitated to call yourself a painter, why is that?

I think the main reason is that, for me, painting is a means to an end. It is not a passion, or an obsession—although I do obsess over my paintings—but rather it is a means to an end. Painting has simply been the best medium in which to manifest my conceptualizations.

You still make your paintings by hand, with a brush? That seems rather traditional or redundant.

Yes, I still make them by hand, with little brushes and little tubes of paint. In that respect, it is pretty traditional stuff. However, the way that I paint ends up masking my process to some degree. In the final works my hand and my labor are tamped down, rendered mute; they are barely there. Just as visible are the plastic surfaces and their crisp separation from the canvas supports. The conceptual crux of my work lies in the paintings’ ability to function in various contexts as “paintings.” Because of this, it has been important to utilize standardized or traditional modes of painting and fetishize those modes of production. In doing so, the paintings in effect become hyper-paintings or representations of themselves, something like a prop. Yet, they are still very much paintings.

Can you elaborate on what it means for the paintings to be able to function in various contexts as “paintings”? I’m confused.

Sure. It definitely can be slippery. I often use the term “paintings” with quotation marks. When I do this, I am referring to the potential for the works to not only function as unique paintings but also—by enforcing and exaggerating so many of the base characteristics of traditional notions of painting—each work is able to refer to Painting in a meta-sense. This leads to a duality in which the paintings also function as signs.

And?

Well, this allows for the paintings to somewhat effortlessly shift roles. It allows for the audience and context to, in effect, project themselves onto them.

If its about projection, why not just make white paintings?

I think that would probably tip the scale too much towards the work being signage or too emptied out. I am working towards a balance of sorts. I want there to be enough information in the paintings to promote the act of looking, while at the same time their images being quiet or nebulous enough to be almost arbitrary. My phrase for this is “absence in presence.” The weight of the paintings ends up moving in gradients, depending on context and viewership.

You often show individual paintings alone, but other times you stack or group the paintings in larger numbers as a mode of display. What is that about?

When I show individual paintings in isolation, it works to emphasize their atmospheric qualities and play to the transcendental characteristics of someone like Rothko. When they are shown en masse, their very production and status as objects is brought to the forefront. These two modes of display are essentially polar binaries. I also present the work in ways that merge these ideas and confuse their separation. My display strategies reiterate the flexibility I have built into the paintings. I think of this flexibility as being metaphorically related to how we, as individuals, shift our personalities and levels of engagement in order to cope with the world at large.

Artist Statement No. 3 (Tangential Non-sequiters)

Look at the edges
Look the sides
Look at the paintings
Remember what it's like to work
Talk in front of the paintings
See a horse smoking a joint
Try to get someone's number
Tell them you like art
Do whatever you want
Notice your body, your position in space
Be unfulfilled
Feel uninformed
Remember why you hate television
Remember why you hate art
Pretend you are concentrating
Breath really deep
Move really slow
Listen to the room
Dance to the music
Remember your 'Dark Side of the Moon' moment
Tell me to shut up
Smell that guy's breath
Take your time
Cancel your meetings
Put off your chores
Lay on the floor
Look out the windows
Pull out your cell phone
He really likes paintings?
Cry if you'd like
Pretend that you mean it
You are actually concentrating
You can actually mean it
Think about your stomach
There is no sugar in painting
There is no crying in baseball