Orpheus Painting

I am drawn to geometry, symmetry, pattern, and diagram, and my paintings are acts of locating beauty and human meaning in their messages. The Greek word palimpsest translates roughly to "again (palin) I scrape (psao)." Scribed on papyrus or waxed tablets, ancient academic texts were often pumiced down and reused for religious purposes centuries later. This historical layering is the inspiration which informs my process. I paint mostly on wood panels prepared with marble dust or plaster, then lay down multiple forms. Working the surface gradually, I layer, rub out, carve back into, or stain to reveal new reference points on the surface or to skew the underlying structures. New marks, scars, and lines trail from forms or reconnect them. The navigation between the emotional, rational, and historical parts of a painting takes on an imperfect logic all its own. For me, this is beauty. Through this series of choices--erasures, exposures, additions--I'm engaged in the ongoing tension between the mystery and the history of each painting. In a world of visual clutter and sensory overload, I hope to invite the viewer into these spaces for their own meaning-making and contemplation.