The slow process of deterioration creates harmonies of disparate colors and textures that are completely organic even though the materials are synthetic and man-made. “Fracture,” the title of this series, refers to the cracks and fissures found repeatedly in these works. But the paintings are also about what lies beneath the cracks and the layers of history in between. There is a past to these surfaces that we are given a glimpse of. They may reveal poverty or riches long gone or merely a child’s imagination where it is not supposed to be. The exposure of time and elements reveals a chaos that is filled with patterns and suggestions of stories. There is individuality in that old wallpaper, that child’s scribble, that black wall. The result is a cacophany of different lives intersecting. The original subject matter may have been an apartment on the lower east side of Manhattan begging demolition, but the intent is to illuminate the human condition. We are all growing and we are all dying and our many layers and fine lines make us who we are. These are paintings about my experiences and growth and the people and places that played apart in that story.

In this latest body of work, I try to pare down to essentials. The story is more ambiguous. By using fewer elements, I am able to focus more closely on specific issues. I’m interested in the line between control and loss of control, both in my techniques and in the themes that I touch upon. The old masters sought total control and manipulation of the viewer through realist techniques that employed subtle nuance and symbolism. The effect is dramatic and often both haunting and beautiful. Hundreds of years later, the abstract expressionists discarded that content and explored a freer use of control, letting the paint, color, and physical manifestation of their stroke dictate the response of the viewer. It is my desire to use formal issues such as color, line, brushstroke and texture to explore emotion and mental states, but to heighten that experience by using some recognizable imagery. No matter how non-representational my paintings may sometimes appear, all of my work begins with a real subject. However subtle, this small connection to reality creates a powerful stage for association and emotional response.