In music and the visual arts, the arrangement of key elements can elicit an emotional
response. Increasingly, I think of color relationships as analogous to the way notes are
arranged to create a musical composition. I pare down familiar objects like books or
vases to their essential silhouettes to explore a limited range of color relationships.
Tender regard is paid to the placement of these color nuanced forms. For example, a
box of note cards might be distilled into an orange rectangle, or a paper bag might
become an icy blue square. When applying paint, I use a palette knife as if I were icing
a cake. The color of the space between objects can simultaneously define those
elements and defy their very definition by stubbornly popping out at the viewer instead
of receding into space. More than ever, I am interested in how the color of empty space
can influence the humble items portrayed on a two-dimensional surface. As always, my
goal is to push the limits of what a still life can be by questioning the boundaries
between abstraction and figuration.
