One day while I was sipping some groove juice I realized
That in the span of time we're just babies
It's all relative, time is unreal
We're just babies, we're just babies, man
Examination of What - Digable Planets
When I realized I was a painter and set about figuring out what that meant, I made my family my subject. Faces and bodies, alone and in relationship to each other, seemed almost to vibrate with energy, emotions, and untold stories. Here I am in my backyard, flanked by my mother and her mother-in-law. At the time I only sensed things my adult self now sees in this scene.
Barbeque, oil on linen, 28"x 36", 1996
I began to see how the basic elements of painting making, color and its application, held nuances of emotion which could serve the feeling I was trying to get at.
Family, oil on canvas board, 18"x 24", 1996
Color and gesture can evoke memory and emotion.
Long Walk, charcoal and oil paint on linen, 28"x22", 1997
No white can match the brilliance of primed, unpainted canvas, but using it requires finding a way to activate something I am leaving alone.
W and A, charcoal and oil paint on linen, 8"x10", 1999
There is a kind of tension in a surface that is primed and ready but not touched. It offers a place for the viewer to imagine.
Baby A, gouache on canvas, 10"x8", 1999