ManicWorld Magazine

– What got you into art and specifically make art using wood? 

The absolute need to be heard and seen. I’ve felt that my upbringing by a mother who was blind made me acutely sensitive to being ignored and misunderstood through my observation of how she was treated and felt, particularly in social situations. Processing these internalized feelings helped me to find an amazing outlet in the visual arts. In another way, my life has also been driven by two non-crossing paths: the creative (art), and logical/executive function (my background as an engineer). At my stage in life now what matters most is creative expression. This outlet, this expression is a return to my roots. Wood–that’s a material choice that just speaks to me. Traditional canvas doesn’t allow me to easily and physically erase in-progress work. Wood is a more resilient surface and tactile experience. For me a wood surface supports real texture and the ability to rework that texture. For example, there are times I’ll take a power sander to an in-progress painting–it’s a cathartic release! 

– What inspires you the most, your environment or your experiences, how does this inspire you? 

For me environment and experiences are intertwined. My inspiration is often driven by the moment combined with the conceptual meaning behind the work. Right now I’m working on a series of works titled ‘Spolia’. Spolia can take its meaning from the spoils of a conquering culture/force that then intentionally reuses older conquered physical objects to support their claim of legitimacy.

However these older physical representations stand as testaments and proof of other people, other thoughts, other ways. I have artistically extended this notion to also include the individual being displaced by the dominant narrative. Perhaps this is similar to how I felt growing up bridging the unsighted world of my mother and myself trying to figure out the sighted world on my own. My work at times tries to engage the viewer by portraying this sense of in-between larger existing forces, the individual is generally a striking contrasting color of inbetween textured complex surfaces.

In other words pressured by the surrounding environment the individual is part of. ‘Spolia’ to me therefore represents neither a part of, or apart from. 

– There’s a pencil in your hands, poised on the canvas, take us through your headspace?

 These days it would usually be a large thick black oil stick 🙂 I will have a general idea of the main composition element. Such as showing the space in-between two large composition blocks. And usually this will not be neatly aligned as I want to show activity, resistance and motion. For example in my work “Between the lines”, I wanted to show what it felt like to be a silent witness to an opposing/dominant force. The individual is the center of the piece (a beautiful ultramarine blue and alizarin red) surrounded by a larger active metallic texture (the dominant part). The individual is defined first using the black oil stick, then surrounding elements are laid down using metal leaf.

From there the individual is defined further and set apart, while the surrounding forces are further layered with texture to help define the notion of the passage of time.  I want to draw the eye to the active assertive individual, but also illustrate the pressure it can be under.