Originally trained as a painter, I used photography as my primary medium for more than two decades before returning to drawing and painting in 2004. Although spanning a trajectory of 30 years and reflecting changing mindsets and approaches, these bodies of work have all stemmed from a single, fundamental urge—to make something from nothing. It is through the making that I uncover an aspect of self that has lain unspoken, inchoate, somewhere inside me. And, with luck, I hope to convey that joy of discovery and evoke a similar flash of recognition in the viewer.

Works on Paper  (2004–     )

Organic and biomorphic themes often serve as a springboard for my more abstract renderings. I'm drawn to the endless permutations of design and chaos, order and randomness, that occur in nature, on both a macro and microscopic level, providing countless avenues for creative examination and interpretation. Often, allusions to plants, animals, and whimsical, undefined organisms will percolate up in the work; at other times, these references fall away in favor of more nonobjective explorations.

The process itself is organic: I begin a piece without preconceptions of where it will end up, starting with a kind of visual equivalent of automatic writing, which, by way of the first marks laid down, signals a path to be taken. The fluidity and spontaneity of the materials themselves suggest and often shape the course of the work. Line, gesture, and movement are all important in conveying a certain rhythm or energy I want to impart. The journey along the way can be a meditative reverie or a fast, bumpy ride, sometimes into a ditch. Either way, it’s a voyage of unlimited possibilities.

Photography  (1980–1999)

My photographs, which also touch on themes of nature and latent energies, have reflected my painter’s roots through my somewhat unorthodox use of the (predigital) photographic medium. From the start, I loved the immediacy inherent in photography but felt confined by the more conventional methods of picture making. The straightforward recording of an image by the camera never seemed to adequately convey my emotional response to what I saw around me. I learned the rules and soon broke them, ultimately employing a variety of means to push the boundaries: photographing with plastic toy cameras (Dories series), using mixed-media processes of photo-collage and image transfer, and altering the photograph in the darkroom through a variety of chemical manipulations and by “painting” gelatin-silver prints with chemical toners and light (Natural Life series). The primary driver throughout has been the desire to create images that speak not so much to the objective world but to how we perceive that world through our filters of memory, thought, and emotion.