In these paintings, the figure seems to dream of alternate, worlds. The images begin with photographs of my shadow and those of others along with occasional images that turn up in dreams. These paintings are created through a chemical process. In some paintings, this process involves silver leaf oxidized with sulfurated potash fixed with Renaissance Wax developed by the British Museum. In others, metallic paint is transformed through contact with acidic solutions. In each painting, I hope to create an image that aspires to something beyond ordinary experience while remaining grounded by the material properties of paint.
Early Hubble silver halide photographs, passages from the Tao Te Ching, the Buddhist concept of emptiness, Andy Warhol’s oxidation paintings, the ghostly figures of Gary Hall, and the Jungian theories of shadow inspire this work as do color and technique in Giorgio Morandi’s paintings and Mark Rothko’s late work.
