The ability to combine raw materials into a recognizable image or form is a uniquely human, divine gift. The highest essence of artistry is a tribute to the achievements of humanity, the beauty of god, and the natural world alike.
To deconstruct or abstract this endeavor is only a recent development in the modern Western world. Appreciation for the accident or blind search that is abstraction, and eras of work and explorations of art making leading up to these modern styles is highly subjective. That is not to say that there is not great beauty to be made via abstract images. The melding of colors without force or a push for control can lead to beautiful works of art, and be perceived by each individual psyche in ways we may never be able to explain.
My art combines the two. Highlighting the expression and accidents of abstraction to remain and combine with the definite. To mold and meld imagery out of those abstractions, through the beauty of the highest eras of human ability in regards to image making. Techniques reproducing the same methods of painting, layering, and color blending as the artists of the High Renaissance.
My work is a cookie dough of the far past (accidental abstraction), the past (the height of image making and technique discovery), the present, (abstraction; expressionism), all baked into a highly socially aware message.
Conceptually, my work is most closely relatable to that of the Naturalist painters of the turn of the 19th century. Constantly searching all sides of contemporary issues through people's stories, experiences, wisdom, opposing views, and relationships. Examining the struggles of real people. Friends, lovers, acquaintances... there is struggle, failure, and triumph surrounding us all. My message is portrayed through everything from war to consumerism, to greed, death and loss, from homelessness to hierarchical societies, natural preservation, sex, soul searching, self-destruction to self-actualization: an ever expanding narrative of our common struggles as people sharing this life.
My love for the Naturalists came from living in Amsterdam. My girlfriend and I moved there in 2010 after she finished graduate school. There were no decent paying jobs for new graduates like us at the time after the economic collapse, so we decided to take a chance on a better life in an economy that respected artists and architects. While in the Netherlands, I came across a Naturalist exhibition in the basement of the Van Gogh Museum. It illuminated my path as an artist.
Their deft skill combined with their bold endeavor to exhibit the struggles and stories of everyday people and the downtrodden, rather than the aristocracy, aligned perfectly with my passions! I grew up in the deteriorating factory towns of the Midwest. These Naturalist's paintings spoke directly to what I was witnessing still a hundred years later in my own friends, families and communities.
Ironically, I would go on from there to eventually building the modern day castles for the aristocracy of today. Working my way up to become known as possibly the best metal finisher and patina person on the east coast. Making architectural metalwork for $30-$120 million homes in NYC and the Hamptons. Still to this day I straddle both the worlds of the one percent and the downtrodden. I use pieces of these homes as my canvas on which to tell the stories of the broke, homeless, underprivileged, overworked, addicted, hopeless and ignored. Always giving a portion of the sale to the subjects of my work for sharing their story.
This path has prepared me for my next venture. The benefit exhibition I am now creating will be the beginning of my life's work. It is what I was put on this earth to do. I am so thankful to have realized it. Now it's time to make it a reality.
If you are interested in offering your help in some way feel free to contact me or join my email list.
To deconstruct or abstract this endeavor is only a recent development in the modern Western world. Appreciation for the accident or blind search that is abstraction, and eras of work and explorations of art making leading up to these modern styles is highly subjective. That is not to say that there is not great beauty to be made via abstract images. The melding of colors without force or a push for control can lead to beautiful works of art, and be perceived by each individual psyche in ways we may never be able to explain.
My art combines the two. Highlighting the expression and accidents of abstraction to remain and combine with the definite. To mold and meld imagery out of those abstractions, through the beauty of the highest eras of human ability in regards to image making. Techniques reproducing the same methods of painting, layering, and color blending as the artists of the High Renaissance.
My work is a cookie dough of the far past (accidental abstraction), the past (the height of image making and technique discovery), the present, (abstraction; expressionism), all baked into a highly socially aware message.
Conceptually, my work is most closely relatable to that of the Naturalist painters of the turn of the 19th century. Constantly searching all sides of contemporary issues through people's stories, experiences, wisdom, opposing views, and relationships. Examining the struggles of real people. Friends, lovers, acquaintances... there is struggle, failure, and triumph surrounding us all. My message is portrayed through everything from war to consumerism, to greed, death and loss, from homelessness to hierarchical societies, natural preservation, sex, soul searching, self-destruction to self-actualization: an ever expanding narrative of our common struggles as people sharing this life.
My love for the Naturalists came from living in Amsterdam. My girlfriend and I moved there in 2010 after she finished graduate school. There were no decent paying jobs for new graduates like us at the time after the economic collapse, so we decided to take a chance on a better life in an economy that respected artists and architects. While in the Netherlands, I came across a Naturalist exhibition in the basement of the Van Gogh Museum. It illuminated my path as an artist.
Their deft skill combined with their bold endeavor to exhibit the struggles and stories of everyday people and the downtrodden, rather than the aristocracy, aligned perfectly with my passions! I grew up in the deteriorating factory towns of the Midwest. These Naturalist's paintings spoke directly to what I was witnessing still a hundred years later in my own friends, families and communities.
Ironically, I would go on from there to eventually building the modern day castles for the aristocracy of today. Working my way up to become known as possibly the best metal finisher and patina person on the east coast. Making architectural metalwork for $30-$120 million homes in NYC and the Hamptons. Still to this day I straddle both the worlds of the one percent and the downtrodden. I use pieces of these homes as my canvas on which to tell the stories of the broke, homeless, underprivileged, overworked, addicted, hopeless and ignored. Always giving a portion of the sale to the subjects of my work for sharing their story.
This path has prepared me for my next venture. The benefit exhibition I am now creating will be the beginning of my life's work. It is what I was put on this earth to do. I am so thankful to have realized it. Now it's time to make it a reality.
If you are interested in offering your help in some way feel free to contact me or join my email list.