I just noticed the back of the 2003 Arkansas quarter & was awestruck by the design, how similar it is to my own compositions. I’m not saying any art with a diamond floating in the center looks just like my paintings, but the whole concept of this hard geometric object floating above a seemingly untouched organic landscape does hold some obvious similarities to my work. I’ve always been interested in the visual contrast of the inorganic, the manufactured, rigid edges, geometric shapes, placed in the context of a natural, rounded, asymmetrical environment.

These contrasting qualities have long inspired me, and I’m repeatedly finding myself trying to depict this struggle of shape through my paintings. I place numerous layers of meaning into my work, sometimes purposefully, oftentimes subconsciously, but the ultimate & most obvious meaning of my work usually comes down to the simple struggle of the square versus the circle, hard versus soft, man versus nature. Quite far from an original concept, but this is just my jumping-off point. For me, what begins as an image of a black rectangular structure invading a pristine mountain valley becomes something far more sinister as I begin to look into the meaning of this black structure. What is it? Where does it come from? Does this scene take place in the world of the real, or just a fantasy world that I’ve created?

As far as the viewer is concerned, just seeing the painting for what it is, a black tower or black diamond floating above some kind of wilderness or barren landscape, is fine. This still elicits some kind of emotional response. The viewer may find the image to be ominous, enticing, mysterious, threatening, beautiful, whatever… No reaction is incorrect. Hopefully whatever emotional response is elicited leads to the natural progression of further inspection, both visually & conceptually. Maybe the viewer asks themselves the same questions I find myself asking. I am in no way trying to push a specific idea with my work, but I definitely have a general narrative that ties all my pieces together, that helps me progress & move forward with each piece. Being a visual artist, I find painting to be the best way for me to communicate these thoughts & concepts, but once the painting is complete and finds itself hanging on a wall somewhere, it has severed itself from me completely, and my language is ultimately challenged and forced to speak for itself. I believe I’m still “mumbling” my paintings, and with each new piece my concept doesn’t necessarily become more clear to me. Every painting becomes another door, another branch, another pathway discovered in a dense black forest. I’m taking every path, doubling back, trying to link this one with that, to draw out a map in order to prevent me from re-tracing my steps. I’m searching for a meaning to all of this, all these things occurring in both my fantasy & my real world, but each new discovery only reveals more questions, and each new question spawns another painting. I’ve yet to run out of questions.