Artist's Statement
I work with the idea that art, and painting in particular, has a content that cannot be suppressed. A Klein blue field or Fontana rip means something to the viewer and that meaning follows the a/b formulation of Marcel Duchamp: the artist is on the "a" side inputting content, the painting is the slash and the viewer is on the "b" side viewing it. An artist can intend or function in whatever cosmos he desires, but the viewer is free to "read" on the "b" side whatever he sees. Art is thus both in the eye of the beholder and has an intended specific content.
From my "a' side of it, I think I'm a Western artist in two senses: as a westerner with a lineage going back to the givens of the Greek, Roman and African foundations of European culture and as a California native with the all the dusty trails, campfires and coyotes of a magical Southern California legacy. This neck of the woods is famous for hallucinations and visions: it's the birth place of cinema, many religious cults and is the most ethnically diverse place in the world. I see my work as an exploration of what emanates from our land: our psychological terroir; an ineffable that gives unique characteristics to the creative endeavors undertaken here.
When one of my works reflects Los Angeles, reflects my memories of sonic booms, years of astronomy club, reflects concerts at the Hollywood Bowl with Piatigorsky or The Tubes at the Santa Monica Civic; or perhaps a memorable ash downpour after another canyon in flames --then I can claim a little satisfaction in the impossible pursuit of painting in LA.