ARTIST STATEMENT

Urban scenes, working class automobiles and mangled images.  The subject matter of my work is often represented by middle class objects from my past, fragmented vertigo images, skewed diagonals and agitated environments and objects.   I find industrial environments and deteriorating automobiles to have aesthetic beauty and I continue to discover great interest in their details.  I often use inviting vibrant colors to represent images, juxtaposing them with carefully master-planned neighborhoods and manicured landscapes.  By marrying these diametrically opposed images, I seek to have viewers re-evaluate what they find beautiful. 

The beginnings of this body of work developed from the notion of “nostalgia.” Nostalgia continues to be an element of my work. However, it has developed and evolved from an “ideal” view of the past into a mechanism for social criticism regarding what is considered acceptable versus unacceptable beauty. I have combined these two concepts in order to draw attention to the fallacy of the “American Dream”.  The people and places in my childhood portrayed the “Dream” as the only way to achieve social normalcy and happiness.  Unfortunately, this isolates many other cultures, lifestyles, and social values by denoting them as unacceptable, as they may be opposed to the “American Dream”.  An awareness of this potential opposition to our society’s social mores will hopefully cause willingness in the viewer to re-evaluate all values and accept those differing from his or her own as being equally valid.  Looking outside the social norm, one can accept as beautiful unconventional images and forms within my art.