Artist Statement
“My work is dependent on design fundamentals: form, color, and composition. My style explores the relationship between man-made structures and the natural world; the idea of recognizable shapes and structures living within irrational thoughts and emotions. I begin a new piece very spontaneously and become more detailed as the composition starts to show itself. The first layer is the most erratic and freeform as I mash and scrape together a variety of acrylic colors and pumice with commercial grade joint knives. I invented a “shoe palette knife” which I use on early layers to challenge the way my body connects to the surface by using my feet. I also work the canvas on the floor using various tools that I create with household items. A dialogue is created with the painting, and it starts to show me what needs to be done. Thick layers of acrylic and pumice and are applied, scraped off, reapplied, sliced off, etc. There’s a technique I call “scuffling” which involves a repetitive chopping motion with the palette knife resulting in approximate parallel lines. The color fields interplay with each other, attempting to find common ground resulting in complex and interesting edges. The process continues until a solution is found, always applying and mixing paint directly on the canvas, scraping away layers to reveal the ghostly characters of the previous. There is a feeling of serenity in my work, but it’s draped over unbridled energy, which is breaking through it. I don’t let you relax completely.”
C.V.
Education
St. Johns University, Collegeville, MN BFA 1997
Selected Exhibitions
Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport, MN 2021
Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (Annually 2002-2020)
Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN (Annually 2005-2020)
ICOSA, Austin, TX 2019
The National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland 2015
Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Abstraction in Action, Wayzata, MN 2015
Arte Internazionale Exhibition, Matera, Italy 2014
Inez Greenberg Gallery, Bloomington, MN 2013
Sopa Fine Arts, British Columbia, Canada 2012
Miami Art Group Gallery, Art Basel, Miami, FL 2009
Silas Marder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY 2007
Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI 2004
Cannonball Fine Art, San Francisco, CA 2003
Articles
Minnesota Daily (U of M), A Canvas Dance Floor, September 2016
Hyperallergic, Another Pro Football Team Adds an Art Collection to Its Playbook, September 2016
Minnesota Monthly Magazine, Best New Art of 2016, January 2016
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Vikings Commission US Bank Stadium Art from 34 Minnesota Artists, October 2015
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Abstraction Blooms Anew, April 2015
City Pages, Chaos Control, August 2014
Vita.mn, Chaos Control, August 2014
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Interpose, November 2013
Vita.mn, Archeology of Color, January 2013
City Pages, Archeology of Color, January 2013
Minnesota Monthly Magazine, Flashing Red, April 2012
Metro Magazine, Scuffle and Scrape, March 2011
Citypages, Scuffle and Scrape, March 2011
Mpls St. Paul Magazine, Art-A-Whirl, (Full Page Photo) May 2010
Vita.mn, Shiny Robot, August 2009
Vita.mn, Pocket Retrospective, May 2009
Vita.mn, Pretty Please, March 2009
Lakeshore Weekly News, An Artist of his Time, November 2007
Contemporary Art Gallery Magazine, Artist Interview, May 2007
Metro Magazine, Premiere Issue, September 2006
The Southern Review, Featured Visual Artist, March 2006
Mental Contagion, Cause and Effect Artist Interview, December 2005
Minneapolis Downtown Journal, Mass Transit Review, October 2005
The Rake, Mass Transit Review, October 2005