Austin Studio Tour 2022 at RIOS

In November 2023, LA-based architecture design firm RIOS hosted me at their newly-opened space in Austin for the duration of Austin Studio Tour. Below is an artist statement I prepared for the show.

“In this body of work, I consider the human connection to nature - both biological and philosophical - as a starting point for the journey of essential truth-seeking in life. During a time of great emphasis on technology as a means for problem solving, I see systems, patterns, harmonies and balance within the natural world as worthy of investigation as an alternative source of wisdom. The representation of femininity in nature is also a thematic through line in my work.    

Within this ideological framework, I imagine a wealth of truth and meaning locked within the trees, rock formations, and animals that stand silently around us. To remember humans’ immutable place within the animal kingdom and nature itself offers an invitation to pursue answers to the great questions of life by looking inward to the human body and soul. In the process of looking outward to the environment, we return inward; the process of looking within and coming to understand oneself - the soul - on an intimate level, might lead us to the discovery of great meaning.    

During an August 2022 period of research in the rich and rugged landscape of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, I discovered the work of the New Mexico-based Transcendental Painting Group (TPG). TPG theories as well as an array of sources ranging from the writings of Wassily Kandinsky to John Prine song lyrics influenced my thought process throughout the creation of this body of work. 

At the technical level, I am experimenting with pushing the boundaries of color harmony - seeking to introduce unexpected or unsettling color combinations that ask that eye of the viewer to do a bit of work. In doing so, I hope to present something different and unpredictable, and to invite a reconsideration of what constitutes beauty.”