Recent Work

Distracted
What I wanted to do with the work in this series was create emblematic images—icons that are self-contained aesthetic expressions on one level and, on another, images that reflect the new social milieu of our cellphone dependency. It is this very ordinary and ubiquitous behavior that I find interesting because it is something people simply were not doing a couple of decades ago. It is now reported that worldwide people are more likely to have access to a cell phone than a toilet, which means we humans are now more prepared to answer an electronic message than a biological one.

On the Move
These paintings make reference to our desire — or perhaps need — to get moving. There was a time not too long ago when time off from work meant relaxing in an easy chair. Today it means getting out of the chair and getting physical exercise because “sitting is the new smoking.” I see this interest in jogging and getting back in shape as a uniquely contemporary phenomenon. In fact, an entire industry has sprung up simply to provide the garments deemed necessary to clothe us in our obsession with physical fitness. In the United States, according to a recent Fortune magazine analysis, “activewear” is outselling all other apparel nationwide.

Implicit Ambiguities
In many ways, my paintings are attempts to bring together elements in the works of other artists whose work I admire. For example, I’ve been inspired by the abstract geometric compositions of Richard Debenkorn, the suggestive and disruptive narratives of Eric Fischl, the expressive imagery of Francis Bacon, and my longtime love of Pierre Bonnard’s use of color.

My compositions are quite formal. The geometric shapes, suggestive of domestic interiors, are deliberately compressed, like a shallow stage setting, and the figures are shown like actors in a stop-action domestic drama. They are physically implicit, but what exactly is happening or about to happen remains ambiguous. It is a narrative the viewer has to complete. The dog and cat are domestic symbols but also compositional elements that activate the space as well as add tension to that which exists between the figures.