ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The following artistic statement should help you understand my artistic philosophy and some of the ongoing themes of my work.
I am an outsider. As a gay man, I am part of the larger culture but also separate from it. I am an observer. I am naturally introspective. I am a "baby-boomer." My work that concerns itself with some of societal changes that have happened in my life since the fifties and sixties. In addition, I am interested in exploring the connection between memory and perception.
Memories can be manipulated and become more subjective over time. My use of distorted perspective is meant to convey a sense of something incompletely remembered and convey a sense of instability or flux.
When start on a project, whether a drawing, or painting, I generally begin with an underlying concept or theme in mind. The themes in my work may suggest a story. Usually, there are several secondary themes as well. Ideally, I would like to stimulate the viewer to create a story for himself about the work and what it means. I want to affect an emotional response in the viewer.
My goal is to create works of art that have an emotionally powerful impact. This involves creating a bridge between what is suggested by the work and the individual memories and perceptions of the viewers who interpret the work. In other words, a connection must be made with some aspect of the life of the observer or the work is merely an illustration of academic theory.
Though the themes in my work may change, I continue to be fascinated with paintings based on the human figure that explore various human relationships and, hopefully, awakens the imagination and communicates something to the viewer.
In closing, I wish the viewer to understand I do not do "gay art." I am not a gay artist. I am an artist who is gay. The reason I say this is because "gay art" has only one objective: to appeal to the homoerotic fantasies of it's audience. My work may also be homoerotic, but I have always tried to bring in other themes as well, such as family conflict, death, memory, spirituality, commercialism, etc. In short, to try to represent some of the forces that influence our lives.