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painting is still as important to art today as it ever was, although many others would disagree. Leaving painting behind or marking it no longer relevant is like thinking a piano is no longer relevant to music. To venerate the medium, I celebrate it, I comment on its process and push its qualities to the foreground of my piece, reminding the viewer they are not looking at an image but at a creation; a painting.

I use portraiture as a mode for exploring paint, and the creation process. My paintings are as much about the process of painting as they are about subject being depicted. In this respect they offer a dual narrative, or two ways of viewing; that of the subject matter being depicted and that of the deconstruction or comment on process ingrained in the layout. Often you will find that the two will play off of each other as hinted in the titles (i.e. in The Crumbling Edge of Sanity: Jack Nicholson is depicted as Jack Torrance, the character he plays in Stanley Krubrick’s The Shinning. This man is fighting with the ongoing loss of his sanity, hence the title. The painting, is fighting with it’s existence as it dissipates into bare canvas.)

I feel that too many people look at paintings solely for their image and ignore the mediums context and process. I am in constant struggle with just how much of the process I should deconstruct to give the viewer a sense of the creation procedure. I do this in many ways, from a subtle approach (i.e. leaving paint strokes, or heavy impasto application to show my intent and build up see Abstract Nude), to that of a more complex idea (trying to depict a paintings DNA or tearing back the layers of time within a piece, see Peeling Back the Process).

Fine arts have been pushed from most spotlights, as the large museum spectacle shows have come to an end, and the ever increasing numbers of practitioners weakens the concept of big, concrete names in the art world foreground. Pop culture forever continues to smother intellectual thought, decreasing attention spans of the mass populace leaving intellectually demanding engagements (such as art) in the dust, for more easily understood and consumed fare. I feel that by highlighting some of the strengths of popular culture within art I can create an interest strong enough to help bridge the gap for some viewers who can appeal to or identify with some of my base images. I feel that there is a number of people with the habitual customs of modern day culture, that also have the intellectual yearning to appreciate a lot more culture and stimulation from their interests. This is the group that I wish to reach.

the feeling of being left behi

2005
45cm x 100cm

the crumbling edge of sanity

2006
oil on canvas
180 cm x 75 cm

she (deconstructing the image)

2005
320cm x 120 cm

sculpting a painting

2005
oil on mixed media on plexiglass box
120cm (H) x 60cm(w) x 60 (l)

The Importance of Colour in Our World

2006
oil on canvas
3 feet x 2 feet

2006
oil on wood

LUST

2006
oil and mixed media on wood
approx 5.5 x 1.5 feet

Marty once again finds himself in trouble with the space time continuum

2006
oil on wood
3 x 5 feet (approx)

with her arm extended

2008
oil on wood
approx. 70cm tall x 150 cm wide