On some level all my work is about photographs and photography, even my drawings.

I don’t really draw, I make grain –––thousands and thousands of small marks within a grid—- to articulate an image.    During 2000 -2002 an inexplicable number of close friends and family members died unexpectedly.  At the time I found working with photography to be a bit too mechanical, I needed something more immediate, something that would permit me to grab a cup of coffee, walk up to my studio, turn on some music and go directly to work.

To process these deaths I made marks on paper. The images themselves are based on recontextualized Krueger family photographs. The series is called Familiar Fictions.

“My Father’s Mother With Moonlight in Her Hair” 2003 graphite on paper

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“Bloodlines and Bipap” 2004  graphite on paper 21″ x 11″

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“Bloodlines” 2004

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“At the Speed of Light” 2004 graphite on paper

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“First Born Son” 2002 Graphite on Paper

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Painting

I often tell my students that one of the reasons you go to college is to learn how to solve complex, difficult problems –––the kind that push you far beyond your comfort zone. Several years ago I got it into my head that I could learn how  to paint in the mixed technique  style of the Renaissance Masters. This self-portrait is only the second painting I’ve attempted since high school, it took me two and half years to paint, the first year and a half I just painted highlights and shadows, no color. I painted the brain over nine times before I could live with it. The piece itself is intended for my children’s children’s children (should there ever be any). Truly, it’s not much more than a one line joke, but it ought to give them reason to pause, and wonder, “am really I related to this guy?”

“Santa Invesitigates: What Makes Reindeer Fly?” tempera and oil on canvas 2006