I want my paintings to be an instrument of communication. I feel it is important for my paintings to speak for themselves. They are colorful and simple with a unifying aspect to them all. In each and every one of us there is a common thread that ties us together at the soul. We are unified through shapes and forms that are embedded in our unconscious. Each of them with their own meaning and definition.
In my work the images come from my life, mind, unconscious, and soul. I translate these attributes out on the canvas for all to see. As an artist I am expressing an inner world. I’m trying to bring out something that stimulates a memory of an emotion from a moment in reality. There are many things that have happened to me that effect my daily life. From these experiences, I believe it is important to live life to its fullest while experiencing everything possible. I express the things I see and feel, and I want others to realize that life is precious and should be taken advantage of to find total happiness.
There are many steps to creating a painting so that the overall composition has a particular emotion, so the viewer sees more than colors and forms. I prepare a painting with a drawing or sketch. While using it as a reference I begin to paint. Although, the finished piece may develop into something that was not conceived of originally.
The most important influence is music. Music sets the mood for me while giving me the drive I need to pour out my heart and mind into my work. In a way music makes me concentrate and think more creatively.
Then the unconscious comes in. I think the mind plays a very important part in creating a piece of art. I begin to paint when a contact in the work has been established by an image formed in my mind. The painting surface is the physical existence that has to be cut and filled with subjective and intimate expression of myself. In doing this I prefer simplicity.
My non-representational marks of scattered colors are based on rhythm and sensation. Some see it as confusion but the marks act as a unifying characteristic to the painting. I’m not actually aware of what I’m doing when I’m painting. I get lost in the music, and it puts me in a dreamlike-state. It seems as though my mind goes blank and my unconscious takes over. After a while I wake up and realize where I’m headed. I bring out my feelings by scratching the surface and giving the painting life and emotion. I do not have a problem with making changes to the painting. My decisions may better portray the image because the painting becomes a mirror of my emotions. I want to communicate my ideas by placing these elements in a work of art that embodies my experiences and feelings.
I think the unconscious is a key part of abstract paintings and my work as well. Deliberately looking for any known meaning or object will distract you from appreciating the work. Knowing this, you should let yourself go of any concrete thoughts and preconceptions when looking at a piece of art. By doing this you may like it or you may not.
