Aggregate I Painting

Unleashed from figurative constraints, abstract painting creates a space in which the application of scientific method and symbolic interpretation can intersect and collide. Emphasis shifts from image recognition to paint application, selected materials, and the support structure. I employ metaphorical devices that aim to expose the fallacy of “the true,” or “the eternal.” The subversion of symbol-laden materials such as gold leaf and printers’ ink grounds my work in a contemporary conversation about the decay of faith in hierarchy and institutions, in science and technology, in human reason, itself. For the nature of existence is unreasoning, arbitrary, and cyclical – the very embodiment of the old, unstoppable enemy, the Leviathan of Hebrew myth or the Fenrir of Norse legend. My studio practice includes the systematic alteration of pigments and their binding agents through over saturation, incineration (with and without accelerants), oxidation, and burial. This approach produces patterns and textures intended to exploit the concept of pareidolia -- the imposition or projection of meaning upon arbitrary arrangement or events. The desire to contain the forces of chaos and subject them to a systematic and organized interpretation is directly represented by the rigidity of the panel, the regimented application of gold leaf in a grid, the triangular acrylic shards, and the splintered wood which have been carefully rearranged. The amalgamation of these disparate components becomes an act of creation. Under scrutiny, however, the subtle nuance of scarification, distortion and mutilation reveal, by contrast, the brutality of existence, the deterioration inherent in the passage of time, and the flawed and illusory nature of the human impulse to organize, define, contain and exploit his environment. Chaos will ultimately descend. All imposed or imagined constructs will inevitably falter and decay. All celestial epiphanies will ultimately prove themselves deceitful reflections of human foibles. Yet, the luster and beauty of these compositions suggest that there is something heroic and awe-inspiring in this frail attempt by humanity to defy reality and redefine its actual position in the universe.