BIOGRAPHY
ARTIST STATEMENT
As I paint to construct images, I start to see the ripples of tensions and questions of our life today. The feelings that result express themselves in the layers of pigments in subtle, but clearly perceptible ways. Usually, it’s in the form of a gnarled texture or an ambiguous compositional element. These elements simply seem visually interesting when they happen, but gradually I connect them with seemingly unrelated thoughts or feelings. Then they begin to animate those ideas. I strive to make art that engages the heart and mind. If art doesn’t grab me in some way, either through sheer intensity or something resembling grace, I don’t have much use for it. So I paint in search of something undeniable. And the tensions and questions that build in my day to day find their form. Maybe they look something like yours.
BIOGRAPHY
I was born in Germany in 1980. When I was 8 years old, my family moved to the Philippines and I spent the rest of my childhood years in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia and Malaysia. My love for art began at an early age, I have been drawing literally for as long as I can remember. Nearly everything that excited me became an inspiration for a drawing. In high school I began exploring the more expressive and abstract qualities of painting. I graduated in 1999 and moved to Oklahoma in 2000 to study fine art and education. I was married to my wife Laura in 2002 and graduated with my Bachelor in Fine Art Education in 2005. I taught high school art for twelve years in Oklahoma City. I now live in Albany, New York with Laura and our three kids, Ava, Elijah, and Vera. I held my first solo exhibit at IAO gallery in downtown Oklahoma City in 2006, and continue to regularly show my work