The wonder and resilience of the tiny and the detail of the minuscule fuel my exploration of intimate, miniature habitats within larger landscapes. I am fascinated by scale and the ability of what’s miniature to function and protect itself within vast spaces. I am continuously looking for the small and the overlooked. I then imagine these isolated forms or marks multiplying, fusing small gestures together that evolve into sheltered ecosystems that exist within larger environments. It is from this dichotomy that my paintings emerge. Through the layering of spatial geometries and patterns with more organic, natural forms, landscapes marked by motion and change present emerging characters, participants, and observers—safe havens that invite rest and refuge within imagined worlds.
My work incorporates both the plane of the painting surface and more three- dimensional forms. I create small models that metamorphose into painted forms. Attracted by texture and color, I incorporate a range of materials that include beeswax, wire, pulverized felt, screen, pieces of water filter, and boat buoys. The models are most often very delicate and vulnerable, verging on the ephemeral, and yet they begin to create their own shelter by multiplying. These are the studies from which my imagined, painted worlds spawn.
I incorporate pattern into the paintings as a way for the viewer to access space. Repetition lures the viewer into the world; patterns will stray and atmospheric space acquires depth and shape as foreground and background. This suggests a depth beyond the decorated surface, giving more history to the painting. I work to structurally map out the surface while maintaining a sense of ambiguity. Forms float, stand, drop, or stack with a purpose that appears almost stubborn, a gallant effort to strengthen their existence. Closer investigation rewards more discoveries: Relationships that initially go unnoticed become pronounced, and connections between forms appear integral to the vitality of the world.
There is an earnestness and tenderness in these characters that almost begs for their existence. I’m interested in how shelter transforms from spaces of play into places of protection, and I imagine my small forms exploring both qualities. The playfulness is evident from the quality of the rendering and that innocence serves as something to protect.