Okapi Drawing

Nature has always been an important subject and inspiration in my art. My goal is to express the vivid, living quality of the natural world, as well as highlight the innate connections and tensions that exist between human beings and the larger environment. Having studied Buddhism for thirty years, my art combines imagery from nature (animals, plants, the human figure and human anatomy) with imagery from Tibetan Buddhist murals and scroll paintings (thangkas). Ultimately, my paintings are an attempt to reconcile and connect the physical world with the spiritual world. I am interested in ordinary visual perception juxtaposed to interior visual perception and how the two overlap and mingle. My work explores the pure physical act of sight and the visionary quality of going beyond the sense perceptions into the realm of imagination and visualization.