Artist Statement
As long as human beings have been around, we have been leaving our mark on the things around us. From cave walls to dirty subway trains. Be it representations of flora and fauna or simply as an act of self preservation, we have the instinct to say, “I was here.” It is in these instinctual marks that I have found my voice.
The Loop series is in response to the constant change ingrained in the personality of urban neighborhoods. From the demographics to the paper advertisements on building walls, everything changes over time. Urban aesthetics are constantly being reformed and reborn. Yet, each change retains an imprint of the history behind it — the bumps and ridges, the drips and the coverups. Perfectly imperfect distinctions form between the positive and the negatives spaces, between the boundaries of the old and the new. In these marks, we find a balance between what was and what is, an urban harmony.
Using household paint and professional enamel, I’ll work on a painting for a few months, methodically working and reworking the shape. Experimenting and covering-up. Colors give way to black and white, to let just a glimpse of the colorful history sneak past the final layers. Referencing the New York School of Abstract Expressionists and New York’s own graffiti, I’m bringing Kline’s “action painting” to a new century.