W I T H T E X T

I am drawn to the rawness and beauty of certain materials, patinas and textures.  Richard Deacon, Martin Puryear and Tony Craig are a few artists who influenced the objects I made early in my career. “Material Langue” is a phrase I have used to emphasize my focus on the formal qualities of the materials I am working with. Similar to my gravitation towards materials, is a fascination with phrases, words and text.  Text as texture, the cadence of a repeated phrase, words recontextualized. The With Text series is a reexamination of “Material Language” with an injection of humor and ambiguity. Andy Goldsworthy meets Garry Larson. The text riffs off of the material weight, texture, fragility. Words create a cyclical simplicity that are often slow to digest. Less is more equating to contemplation. Paint is a material to sculpt with. From a distance it looks flat and simple, but close up it is textured, rich and layered. Similar to the concepts behind this body of work. I custom make all of my canvases so that they operate more like an object. The titles act as conceptual triggers. Much of the work in this series is deadpan and simple on the surface, but with a very intentional door left open for endless projection and examination.