You Are Here features a multiple series of works – each demonstrating a segment of time in my recent period of producing artwork. Every emerging artist is told that they have matured when they are able to create a whole body of consistent work to present to the professional art world. But before artists reach this steady consistent body of work, they explore their options, styles and influences. Here is a peek into my evolutional process, finding my voice and exploring my passion.
Cut It Out (2008 - 2009)- series
This series happened quite by accident, while I was working on a piece called “Waiting”. After I was finished with that piece, I wasn't happy with the background, so I simply decided to cut it out. I really liked how the piece turned out and so I created another piece called The Meet and Greet with the design of a cut out as well. Not long after that, I was approached by an independent gallery that asked me to do a solo show. I decided that I wanted to further explore this style and based the entire show on it – naming it “Cut It Out”. I found that cutting the paintings out of wood in nontraditional shapes allowed me to play with the light and shadows on the wall and add dimension and playfulness to the series.
Spray Face (2008-2009) - series
The Spray Face Series was born from the necessity to create. I was in the midst of a studio change. During this time of transition I was doing a lot of moving, cleaning, and building. With one month before the grand opening of my new gallery and studio, with no real place to start painting and my paint brushes buried, I looked for whatever I could get my hands on. When I don’t create artwork, I get this itch that becomes something more like a fidgety/agitated state. I just have to create to quiet my mind and soul. I had previously incorporated aerosol into my paintings, but it played a more minor role in my works. With the cans easily accessible and no clean up required… aerosol became, for the first time in my paintings – first fiddle. Colors, shapes, drips, and pictures began to unfold. Shortly after the majority of work was completed on these paintings, I finally had walls to my studio, a place to paint, and a bucket of water to clean my brushes. I then went back in to fine tune my spray painted pieces with crisp lines of acrylics, and a new series was born.
A Chaotic Background (2006 -2007) - series
Protection #1 (6' x 4'), the centerpiece painting, was completed in 2001. At this time in my life I had just graduated from Washington State University, I was living with a few friends in house in Shoreline, but most importantly, I had a garage to paint in. I finally had my chance -- room to breathe, to let loose, and the desire to create on a big canvas. Also at the same time I was studying about Jackson Pollock and his journey. I channeled his energy to get the desired look I wanted for the background. As I think about it now, what I was doing was conditioning myself for how I was going to do my backgrounds in the future. The energy with a chaotic background resonated with me. To some it might seem like a jumbled mess, but to me -- I see hints and ques. These things allowed me to see other things that maybe are not so fleshed out, but I can fill in the blanks in my head.
From the creation of Protection #1, I continued on painting by drips, splats, and letting gravity do its work. As time passed on, I continued to work with a chaotic beginning, but I started to gather around the idea of color theory and using a comfortable analogous scheme. I believe that when I create backgrounds that are chaotic by using the analogous color scheme, it doesn’t take away from the main idea, but rather lets the main idea settle into the composition.
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