It Lays Bare Painting

Opened and exposed to the elements, this barn is a metaphor, not only for our frailty, brokenness, and vulnerability but also for the nature of certain relationships. For instance, the way we open ourselves before our significant others or, to a greater degree, the way that we stand in truth before a brute reality[our creator]. We are completely exposed. This piece also comments on the movement and freedom in these relationships. In our weakness, the control can drift away and be lost, slipping through our grasps. These two halves have the potential to drift away forever. However, standing vulnerable and honest in the truth and a relationship with our spouse and our creator gives us a freedom. The two completely independent pieces of this one whole are a representation of this. My work is a marriage of exploration and expression– my feelings and ideas on such motifs as humanity, truth, and metaphysics are made manifest through art. I am inspired by, and drawn to, the beauty and complexity of nature. For this reason, landscapes and nature are my primary vehicles for said exploration and expression. With influences like tattoo and graffiti art, hotrod paint jobs, Dr. Seuss, comic books, Van Gogh, and Charles Burchfield, I have managed to create my own form of expressionism that brings wild landscapes to life in gallery spaces. This expressionism does more than comment on my own emotions. The act of looking at the world I inhabit carefully and trying to transcribe it into art teaches me both about myself and the world in which I currently reside. I learn things in the close examination of my surroundings and the translation process, where I try to turn my thoughts into works of art. Once this process is complete, I then share my findings with others via that art. Regardless of language or situation art facilitates fellowship with my fellow man.