PAINTING

Below I discuss my painting philosophy. 
Please use the menus above to view Figurative or Abstract paintings.
The collage below is an amalgamation of my paintings.

In my figurative works, I paint figures in abstracted and segmented patterns to explore the mutable nature of surface and form.  By depicting skin in abstracted patterns I am transgressing the smooth envelope of flesh.  The violence of my abstraction is paired with blurring, dissolving and piercing of the human form.  I also include unexpected juxtapositions, similar to the ambiguity and discontinuity of Surrealism and Surrealist thought.  Additionally, my paintings often feature figures with a musical instrument sitting in an outdoors setting and thus I feel my works are both a genuine as well as a sardonic nod to Renaissance Arcadian landscape paintings, oft featuring a muse with her (generally speaking) musical instrument sitting in an idyllic and lush vista.

My abstract paintings are musings on form and space.  Like my figurative paintings, my style is painstakingly detailed and ornate.  However, with my abstract paintings I set a-priori rules I must follow:
I first paint the positive space using only oil paint and turepenoid.  After doing so, I paint in the negative space using the same palette, altered slightly with the addition of liquin.  Even though I paint the negative space with the same palette (or palettes) used for my positive forms, I must be sure my background contrasts with and thus accentuates the positive forms already painted.   The addition of liquin helps to transform the old palette and gives a glossy patina to the negative space surrounding the positive forms.  Similar to my figurative paintings, my abstract paintings explore the boundaries of shape and form.