Artist's Statement

As an artist I feel compelled to make images that reflect my personal beliefs as well as those of our cultural collective. How these polarities collide in a symbiotic dance is of most interest to me.

In my recent work I have traded the paint brush and paint for a sewing machine and thread. Moving away from traditional studio media such as pencil, crayon, scissors and glue, I now use the digital camera, computer-based drawing and digital imagery as my preferred tools of assembly. This use of current technology has enabled a nuanced approach to my personal preference of making art that is a building process alluding to a residual past.

I believe metaphorically that to get to the essence of my work I had to chip away the excess, the baggage if you will, with a subtractive approach not unlike a sculptor revealing a spirit from within a stone. This shift in my art making process has allowed me to “clean the slate” and create a surface of positive building blocks, not only purposeful and constructive, but personal as well.

Incorporated in my current work are photographic images, symmetrical and geometric designs deriving from thirty years of engineering drafting experience and an intuitive desire to juxtapose colored fabric patterns to create a visual narrative. This work takes form from the age old practice of traditional quilt making. Quilting not only satisfies my innate need for mathematical order and personal ideation, but attempts to assuage the tensions that exists within our society and its’ cultural values. An example of this conceptualized tension is illustrated in my first quilt, Man-sized Girly Quilt. This work exposes the tension between pink fabric and bare-chested voluptuous cowboys. The manly imagery of cowboydom is not associated with the personal comfort of “blankey,” not of course, unless you are a gay man. The allusion to things gay is indicated by the color scheme and the corners filled with purple pansies. My method of assembly, sewing, purposely emphasizes gender role stereotypes because it is traditionally thought of as a female activity. For me, these tensions fuel my work and provide a passive/aggressive balance of concepts, which I hope will resonate with the viewer.