Statement
I begin my work as an explorer, archiving my expeditions to remote wilderness areas with photos, drawings and found objects. Returning to my Brooklyn studio, these materials evolve through chance operations and experimentation with paint transfers, resulting in paintings of varying scale. I rely on the memory of the experience to discover qualities of value, color and form distinct from those in the original reference material. I approach mark making through an active process of layering, distressing and removing multiple layers of paint, mimicking the accumulation and erosion that shapes landscapes. My current body of landscape paintings reference time spent in wilderness areas of the west, many of which have become politically contested. I evoke this subject to draw attention to the conversations surrounding human interactions with landscape and protected wilderness areas. I regularly return to protected wilderness areas to appreciate its contrast to the urban environment and to be reminded of the value of these protected spaces as sites of contemplation.