This body of work stems from an idea I was presented with in my first semester of undergraduate school, in my very first class. The idea is called “automatic triggers”. This method has been an important part of my process and has been one of the principal ideas informing this most recent work. I am interested in what naturally appears in my work, how I respond to a color or a gesture, and what comes out of that response.
Over this past year, I have become more familiar with myself, my process, and the origin of my triggers. I am drawn to highly textural works in which the process is very physical and the materials are of the utmost importance. I have been experimenting with a variety of materials and have found that what is most interesting to me is the way these materials interact with each other; wet oil paint under spray paint, spray paint over wet gesso, the dust of charcoal falling onto the textured surface of thick acrylic paint. These materials are as important to me as the images themselves.
As for the paintings, it has become clear to me that my work is very connected to place. I was born in Colorado, which I believe informs the landscape-like images I have been creating. The paintings can take on many different appearances in the process of completing a work. During the creation of a single work, it often becomes necessary to scrape or block out whole areas of the painting. There is a push and pull, a sort of confrontation that occurs, where at times I feel almost out of control, willing the painting to work. There is a geographic quality to this process that reflects both place and product.
For the past three years, I have lived in my hometown of Denver, Colorado. I was, at first, disappointed in my decision to move back to Colorado, but over time I have found that this place, my roots, are deeply ingrained in the kinds of images I am attracted to and am driven to make. The texture of the plains, the mountains, the clouds; the smoothness and unpredictability of the sky; these things are what have triggered this body of work. It is place, my roots; coming home.
Over this past year, I have become more familiar with myself, my process, and the origin of my triggers. I am drawn to highly textural works in which the process is very physical and the materials are of the utmost importance. I have been experimenting with a variety of materials and have found that what is most interesting to me is the way these materials interact with each other; wet oil paint under spray paint, spray paint over wet gesso, the dust of charcoal falling onto the textured surface of thick acrylic paint. These materials are as important to me as the images themselves.
As for the paintings, it has become clear to me that my work is very connected to place. I was born in Colorado, which I believe informs the landscape-like images I have been creating. The paintings can take on many different appearances in the process of completing a work. During the creation of a single work, it often becomes necessary to scrape or block out whole areas of the painting. There is a push and pull, a sort of confrontation that occurs, where at times I feel almost out of control, willing the painting to work. There is a geographic quality to this process that reflects both place and product.
For the past three years, I have lived in my hometown of Denver, Colorado. I was, at first, disappointed in my decision to move back to Colorado, but over time I have found that this place, my roots, are deeply ingrained in the kinds of images I am attracted to and am driven to make. The texture of the plains, the mountains, the clouds; the smoothness and unpredictability of the sky; these things are what have triggered this body of work. It is place, my roots; coming home.
