ARTIST STATEMENT
My artistic goal is to provide an engaging visual space for contemplation. As an abstract artist, I am interested in the expressive energy of marks and color. I appreciate the visual quality of a gesture, a brushstroke, a line, a drip, and I believe color can tap into powerful emotional spaces. I am more interested in representing energy than nouns.
Working as a painter and printmaker, the mark-making process naturally plays an important role in my work. A mark reveals how pigment was applied. A mark is time based, it references a moment and an action. A mark becomes narrative, guides and retains the eye. A mark is a vehicle, created by the artist, to deliver color. Clearly I am inspired by Abstract Expressionism. When painting, the marks and colors are inseparable. Printing is an entirely different matter- The marks can be completely defined before ink(color) is applied.
When I begin to etch a copper plate for an intaglio print, I enjoy the opportunity to make marks with complete freedom from color. I etch copper plates in Ferric Chloride using a combination of aquatint and line etching processes as well as scraping, burnishing, polishing, and drypoint techniques. Later, when I am printing test proofs of the image, I carefully choose colors to refine and balance the energy of the defined marks.
I hope you take some time with these images. One thing that I truly love about working expressively with printmaking is that it facilitates a sense of controlled chaos. The gesture, the line, the mark, carries ink and energy up to the border of the plate. The pristine paper border shows where things started and, simultaneously, defines an end.