Day One

Today, day one of my third of five residencies at AIB was a very full and satisfying day. I unpacked my paintings and installed them in my critique space - watched previews for the time-based, first year and graduate presentations, re-connected with my class and ate delicious meals in fantastic company. We ended our first day by 8PM, so I was able to enjoy a wonderful sunset run along the St Charles river. It is sunny and warm - I sleep on the 4th floor of a brown stone built in 1896 with the windows open, and wake to a raucous and welcoming bird serenade. I have an early run with some class-mates in the morning before critiques and our first critical theory seminar. Hard work, beautiful joy.

Artist Statement - new revision

From William Turner to Anselm Kiefer, I feel connected to artists that share their personal response to the world through their emotive depictions of the environment. My life is the preparation for each painting. I cull insight for each piece from experiences that I have moving through the landscape, and my relationships with the lives within it. Intuitive replies to memories create a sense of place in my work that is defined by the materiality of the paint, and the discovery of visual contrasts reflecting emotional connections to experience. This is an environment of call and response where the heart and mind interact and the viewer is asked to consider the connection between presence and reaction.
I encourage this connection with the inclusion of unrefined pigment mixed directly into the oil paint and cold wax. Fluid transparent washes, heavy layers of sediment textured peaks – the gesture of a wave, the splatter of petals or rain – these are the marks that build and reveal place.
Although the content of my work is largely a personal form of communication, it invites participation through the discovery of the landscape from an internal perspective. When one views the world from the heart, how does our connection to it, and our care of it, potentially change?