Incident at Sea 74 Painting

Abstract expressionist works drawing inspiration from natural elements in an attempt to capture an instant of movement, an urgency, in the fleeting moment of expression afforded by the nature of the medium’s unique mixing and setting process, which allows for a furious 30-60 minutes for working the surface. From the artist: “Each of these works is a taut negotiation. I set out with my vision, and then must come to terms with how the moment, the medium, and the process alter that vision. It’s humbling. I make concessions. I guide the work to what it tells me it wants to be, using a blow torch, a palette knife, and gravity to coax it, sometimes to trick it. I find making these works, then, an analog for the act of living itself- expectation vs reality, coming to terms with the limits of your control over circumstance. Or akin to what I imagine performing improvisational music is like- your subservience to the moment. When all is right, we (the painting and I) find peace with one another, even as the end result often evinces tumult. I find the aftermath of the conflict beautiful, almost always.”