ROOTS
I moved to New York in 2004 a freshman in High School. My father gifted me a camera during that transition, having sensed my joy of the craft. For the 8 years that followed, cameras remained a permanent participant in my daily life. With a camera in hand, I found a place to belong. At a time when I was on the outside looking in, the camera granted me access, and purpose. During those years I developed a love for narrative. Early attempts to document the lives of my closest friends, allowed me the time to analyze the intentions of my work; Unveiling truths and shifting perspectives among, around, and about my community; through a complete body of visual documentation.
PROCESS
Drawn to construct character driven paintings, solidifying each story arch somewhere between the tangible and spiritual nature of things. As each being is more than skin or thought or action, each work is a compilation of layers flowing, building, and working together, both seen and unseen.
“1410” charcoal and pastel on paper 2018
Texture is the foundation, providing depth, bringing solid and tangible items to the forefront, highlighting the juxtaposition of subject and surrounding. Pastels, charcoals, and oils, are used interchangeably, as the right textile representation of living things. Acrylics are primarily a source of context, matched with mediums and minerals, employed to enhance the depth of each layer and final scene.
So often we are seen in one light, from one vantage point. Of course we are so much more than that. Each canvas contains an indication of History, of experiences had, decisions made, A record keeper. You might say I have a little folk in my work as I find life in the discarded, disfigured canvas and other ready made surfaces. Instead of covering up the corrupt you’ll find I enhance the occasional hole, rip and warp.
Each of us have our own stories, not always visible to those we encounter, these stories, have left an impression on us. A lasting mark, that shape the person we are to become. Without these distinct experiences, what then would separate and connect us.
A practice in space and time. Of depth and structure. Self discovery, Collective Identity; Marketing and rebranding. This is my work of/in progress.
