I make a quick sketch on the painting surface, cut shapes out of decorative paper, and paste them in and around the drawing. I then paint, sometimes obscuring parts of the shapes, other times extending the patterns in the shapes. I transform some of the shapes into animals that resemble fish or birds -- others into unreal creatures -- that bounce, float and somersault, interact with one another.
Laughing at the Inferno
They pushed against the darkness
and the darkness pushed back
with a fury.
Acrylic and collage on canvas, 48 in x 36 in
Invasion
Eat everything
in sight
swerve down
and pounce
on blurred remains.
Acrylic and collage on canvas, 48 in x 36 in
Presence
Unknown face obscured.
Shapes lurk unidentified,
Drifting, then play on.
60 in x 34 in, oil on canvas
Rapture
A beautiful wreck
Of patterns splitting apart
Amid bright colors.
30 in x 42 in, collage on canvas
Garden of Delights
Hypnotic patterns
Fill this labyrinth of shapes
That appear, vanish.
30 in x 42 in, collage on canvas
Skin and Bones
Somewhere in between,
nothing left to burn. They sleep
better in the light.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 in x 48 in
A New LIfe
Ephemeral dreams of stone,
a tumult of the heart,
sharp-edged, nothing more.
Even the lives of shadows
have something to say.
Oil on masonite, 18 in x 24 in
Chariot
There is no space here.
Uncertain geometry
makes things disappear.
Oil on masonite, 24 in x 18 in
Faceless bodies dressed
in patchworked armor stand on
fiery orange ground.
Oil, collage on masonite, 12 in x 24 in
Unwound
Supercilious
Strokes of black. Frenzied scratches
Into the eye soup.
30 in x 60 in, oil on canvas
Sleepwalkers
Let them shake
their bruised bodies
shiny with wounds
under a cloudless sky.
Oil on masonite, 12” x 24”
Pantomime of the Flesh
This beautiful mess started off as one painting, on the floor of my apartment. It wasn't interesting enough, so I did a second one. I cut shapes out of the first painting, slathered the backs of the shapes with acrylic medium, and pounded them onto the second painting. It was fun.
Acrylic and collage on canvas, 52” x 72”