Growing up in the deep south, My only exposure to art was watching my Aunt paint Louisiana swamp scenes in her tiny kitchen studio. Her ability to summon rich and detailed worlds by hand prompted me to begin drawing and painting on my own. My public school had no art program, so I practiced drawing faces and figures from magazines, comics and album covers.
I left the south to attend The Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1988. There I explored the techniques of alla prima painting and drawing figures, portraits and landscapes. I later shifted to narrative themes, using collage as a way to iterate quickly. The traditional approaches of working directly from life, married with modernist techniques of experimentation and subjective experience, were key factors in my artistic development.
In 1997, I received my Master’s Degree from Bowling Green University. My thesis exhibit, a body of large-scale works of backyard scenes featuring brides, photographers and Baltimore row-houses, revealed a mature stylistic identity. The scenes were colorful, visually dense moments that contained enigmatic narratives that continued to appear in my work in the following years.
The technological shift happening around the internet and the sudden availability of affordable video cameras shifted my focus into filmmaking in the mid-2000’s. I created my own production company specializing in innovative, narrative short films for brands. I made several documentaries focused on artists and entrepreneurs, anticipating a cultural trend for cinematic, the behind-the-scenes looks at a creative class that would eventually become today’s influencers. My work as a film director won several awards including Addys, Tellys, Hermes’ and an Emmy nomination.
In 2016, I returned to narrative painting, collage, and portraiture. Another technological wave brought Ai to my attention in late 2022. It was clear to me that this would have an immense impact on the art world and I tuned in closely to the quickly evolving phenomenon. I recognized Ai as a potent tool that can create opportunities for artists, but it needs imagination and guidance from artists in order to produce culturally significant work. I began incorporating Ai into my own process, iterating on compositions that I then brought into the studio to deconstruct or to take in new directions as physical pieces. I believe the speed and quality of Ai provides a collaborative fluency that is absent of the friction produced by physical materials. I feel this type of interaction can be immensely fruitful and full of wonder.
My work is characterized by a blend of traditional techniques and mixed-media approaches, resulting in pieces that are both visually striking and conceptually rich. I make collage-based portraits of mysterious, imaginary characters who seem to be shape-shifting into bird-like beings, morphing with cameras and vintage photographs, or otherwise disappearing into clouds of colorful shapes. These constructions might have been inspired by descriptions of a sci-fi future where humans are combined with artificial intelligence, but imagined in a time way before computers.
As I look to the future, I am excited to see where my artistic journey will take me, and I'm committed to using my talents to push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of art.
My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.