Artist Statement

I have always been intrigued by figures—their character and attitude. My early portraits convey an edgy moodiness, a sense of solitude or longing. These paintings, drawings and gestures, taken from life, became the foundation for my abstract paintings. 

What was background in the portraits becomes the subject of the abstract paintings: pure color, form, line, shape, texture. As the light shifts during the day or night, the viewer is drawn to other planes and images, offering alternate focal points.

My sculptures continue this exploration of figuration, suggesting something elemental, open to multiple interpretations.  I have recently created several new sculpture series. 

In Adagio with Strings, hand built and carved figures move in response to air currents, as delicate mobiles in a slow dance.  Jenga is an interactive work made of hand built and carved figures that fit in your hand so that you may build your own sculpture, using your imagination to construct a work of art that can be different every time. In Calyx, I begin with a tight spiral around a nucleus of clay.  As I work the clay, the spiral unfolds into a carved vessel. We see a dance of life evolving.

In all of my work, I use color and shape, line and gesture, to animate these figures and forms- to infuse them with the energy of life.