Passion has always been central to the art I make. Aside from the obvious theatrical and expressive qualities I enjoy in the staging and narrative of the work There is also a spiritual component to it.
Some People pray and some meditate I prefer viewing icons and see my work in that tradition. Most early examples of the plastic arts were connected to religious ritual. We tend to look at statues of Aphrodite and Apollo as representations of literary characters. I see the representation of the human form stylized and recreated in a more beautiful shape as the visualization of a metaphor for something larger than ourselves. It allows us to contemplate life on a plane that supersedes our limited conception of ourselves. This is the ecstatic feeling that can overtake the viewer when looking at art and it is my goal to create this experience.
The people in my paintings are driven by passions. They live in a world of conflict and struggle. They desire power, sexual satisfaction and meaning. I like to think of each scene I make as a condensation of normal patterns of behavior. With the inhibitions of good manners and normal behavioral standards removed they act out their desires and fears in a more direct and descriptive form. I see the visual arts as at their best when action is well expressed and passion clearly shown.
A piece that meant a lot to me recently was Quebec. It is going to be housed in the parliament building in Quebec. Making this painting was a wonderful opportunity to make a painting at a grand scale that had nothing to do with galleries or the art market but would exist in public and be accessible in subject and location to the people who would encounter it.
Moving forward I would like to expand my canvas. I am planning some new pieces in which the scale is growing and the scope of the story. I am very interested in reclaiming the mix of painting sculpture and architecture in one whole work of art in a premodern way. I think that something very significant has been lost in modern times as we have forgotten the art of great public architecture sculpture and painting. I plan on making many more pieces like Quebec.