My paintings explore ideas surrounding the human connection to the natural world and the ways in which we attempt to separate ourselves from it. I convey this concept through the use of natural materials such as straw and sand, in combination with unnatural materials including plastic and glitter. This mixture of materials, in combination with acrylic and oil paint, allows me to express my ideas of nature in an abstract manner.  My working process is influenced by abstract expressionism. My paintings are energetic and are often a result of emotional responses that occur during the creation process. They express a sense of exploration and a desire to push the limits of paint and question the idea of what is considered to be a painting. My work often walks the line between representation and abstraction. When I use representational imagery in my work, I use it to capture the viewers’ attention, for people are often drawn to things they recognize. I use abstraction either in combination with this imagery or I fully abstract the original source material in order to convey the deeper feelings I have about the subject, without being blatantly obvious.

 A painting that I created recently dealt directly with the idea of humans feeling disconnected to nature. The painting is of a gritty abstracted landscape of sorts, and there is a distorted human like figure in the foreground. I used a wide range of natural and unnatural materials to create a grimy, highly textured surface that may cause the viewer to feel a sense of discomfort or disgust. In this painting, as well as in my other work, this mixture of obscure materials in combination with more traditional acrylic and oil paints allows me to express my feelings on the human connection to the natural world in a more abstract manner.

The process in which I create my work is reactive. There is not much planning involved, I prefer to dive in and let the work decide what it wants to be. Occasionally I will begin with a photo or drawing for reference to help guide the composition and the emotional charge of a piece. As I dive deeper into the painting my focus often shifts to the process of creating versus attempting to cling onto source imagery. This process is similar to the methods used in abstract expressionism. I let my emotional reactions drive my work, and once I have enough surface covered I evaluate what to do next on a more aesthetic level. I continue working until I get that gut feeling where the work feels right and complete. Another element of working in a reactive manner is channeling the subconscious. Because of this the content of my work is resolved after the fact. I go into some pieces with a certain intention, and others are solely reactionary. Either way I often find deeper meaning in my work after its completion. This allows me time to process what it was like to create each work, and reflect upon what the final result could represent.