ARTIST STATEMENT
The imagery in my work evokes contemporary industrial urban design and architecture while the motifs draw inspiration from patterns and designs of the 1950s, the period of my childhood in Detroit, Michigan. My childhood Modernist home was filled with objects and materials that made an impact on the direction of my art, from the patterns of our bold geometric drapes, translucent patterned Formica countertops, bulbous lamp stands, stylized wallpaper, and Russell Wright pottery, to our home’s linoleum square-tiled floors.
Like many Detroiters, our family had a long history with the automotive industry. Trained by his father, my father began his career in automotive and aircraft design and later evolved into home design and construction. Thus I grew up in this creative atmosphere, stimulated by my surroundings, and influenced by the transportation, architectural and industrial concepts of the times.
The modernist Bauhaus, geometric Art Deco, and Concrete Art movements that flourished between the world wars were still visible in the post-war environment I was exposed to growing up. As an adult, I gravitated toward the work of artists from those periods.
While my paintings do reference present day architecture and design, my aim is to bridge time. The bold geometric forms are not hard-edged, but rather imperfect, soft-edged, revealing the human hand. The imagery is sculptural or mobile-like; the shapes appear poised to move and sometimes gently bump the edges of the painting or float into space. The work is meant to create a mood of time passing as well as a timeless connection to the future.