ARTIST STATEMENT
The Fairytales painting series is my attempt to add narrative to the landscape painting I have been pursuing. My work in animation has led me to examine the raw power of fairytales. The universal ideas of lost innocence, a hero?Äôs journey, searching for the keys to happiness and confronting evil are held deep within the collective unconscious. These concepts are also present in our real world. We live in scary and uncertain times as our young men and women go off to face an unknown enemy. My hope is that these images tap into an emotional response from the viewer even if the meanings are not easily interpreted.
The landscapes which anchor these paintings play with formal aspects of space (some elements are 3-D, some shapes flat, objects sized according to emphasis rather than reality), composition, anthropomorphism and pattern. Equally important is my focus on the concepts of time and memory. When I am inspired or intrigued by a landscape or moment in time, I later draw my memories of that place, translate the drawings to paintings which allows me to be more intuitive and expressive than had I painted plein air. I strive through color, texture, design and composition to create the feelings a particular place evokes in me - an idealized or metaphorical version of the landscape and its elements ?Äì a sense of mystery. My paintings are made with an underpainting of acrylic paint and mediums to add surface texture, solidity and depth to the images, then finish the painting in oil for a more organic quality.
EXHIBITIONS
2007
Fairytales - solo exhibition, McLean Project for the Arts, Ramp Gallery
McLean, VA September 20th ?Äì November 3rd
Curator: Nancy Sausser
Small Works solo exhibition, Kimball Art Center, Park City, Utah
July 27th — September 18th in conjunction with the Park City
Art Festival. Curator: Pam Crowe-Weisberg
ArtsCouncil@GRACE juried group show, GRACE gallery
Reston, VA June 22nd ?Äì August 3rd Juror: Irene Hofmann
Sprint Corporation Headquarters
Reston, VA. Curator: Maryam Ovissi
2006
Arts Council@GRACE juried group show, GRACE gallery
Reston, VA. Juror: Jack Rasmussen
Languages of Silence juried group show, GRACE gallery
Reston, VA. Juror: JW Mahoney
League of Reston Artists Group Show, JoAnn Rose Gallery
Reston, VA Judged show. Juror ?Äì Nancy Sausser
3rd Place Best in Show Winner
Glen Allen Cultural Art Center
Richmond, VA, Juried show. Jurors; curators Robert Mayo and Elizabeth Moss
2005
New Art 2005, MPG Contemporary, Boston, MA Juried by Linda Norden
Juried Group Show, Kimball Art Center, Park City, Utah
Corcoran College of Art, Group Show, Washington, DC
League of Reston Artists, Group Show, Reston, VA
2004
Abstracting from Nature 2 person show at Jasmine Cafe Gallery
Reston, VA
Membership: Lorton Arts Foundation studio artist
