ARTIST STATEMENT

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I am consumed by the subtle magic that occurs when playing with light, color and movement in my art making. Whether punched or shredded, I appropriate household paint swatches and make mostly 3 dimensional artworks. These artworks transform and change subtly as the viewer shifts from his/her vantage point. There is a magic that occurs, a trick of the eye where color seems to occupy space - a void - at once ethereal, yet seen from another angle the whole appears as if a ghostly image veiled in gossamer.

 

The artworks are many layered and full of experimentation, sometimes subtle and at other times less so. I enjoy the science of colour, how the implementation of a single colour, when applied to a small incremental tonal range, can transform a work either subtly or substantially. Oftentimes I repeat an image, yet each permutation is unique. I will rework the image multiple times working through different colour designations. Often this effect alters the subsequent works in subtle ways while in others the change appears dramatic. 

 

I draw from a full spectrum of 1,100 colours. I work tonally - each of the single colour placements are based on tone rather than hue. This mode of placement achieves a Pissaro-esque pointillist finish. I will sometimes come back to a work and focus on achieving monochromatic elements - designating variations of a single hue to a desired area - not dissimilar to Andy Warhol's screen prints of celebrities - the way he designated non-representational monochromatic areas of hue, and how they change form one variation of the same portrait to the next.

 

Another element to the work is the constant change and flux that is mostly produced by the viewers changing vantage points, an effect that is difficult to imagine whilst not being present before the work. These artworks do not photograph well. It is impossible to capture the kinetic element - an element whereby the viewer's motion or movement dictates the artworks transformative component.    

 

A single light source projected at the colour side of the discs produces a magical result especially when viewed directly before the work. It is almost as if tiny LED lights shine between and bounce off the backsides (text side) of the paper discs. If lit by natural light, these artworks change throughout the day. While working on these pieces, my favorite period of the day is twilight - it is at that time that the colours seem to come alive subtly yet rather dramatically at the same time - it becomes a still point for me as an artist.

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