REPRESENTED ARTISTS

Artist Statement
 

I am a self-taught abstract painter that has shown work in Los Angeles, Portland, Salem and Palm Desert.
 

When I paint, I start with an abstract feeling or tone. I sculpt that feeling with lines and color. I layer paint and then use sandpaper to uncover new lines and freeing buried colors. A painting is done when I look at the canvas and it communicates what I was feeling. It clicks.

Putting a collection of paintings together for an exhibit is similar to finally seeing something from a higher perspective. The pieces falling into place to tell a story. Not a narrative story like a novel, but a story that might be told with a poem or sounds. I look at it and an itch is scratched, I feel a thrumming in my chest and a deep fleeting satisfaction.

I hope others find a satisfaction when they look at my paintings. A crisp line and a swirling cloud of color coming together just right to induce a feeling or story for you.

Artist Statement

I am a self taught artist and accidental immigrant from New Zealand currently living in Portland, Oregon. After over 35 years in the US, I am still getting the hang of things. 

Accidental or not, immigration produces an odd state where you are permanently in between home and family and therefore always a bit off kilter. Making art helps both process and oddly, embrace this dislocation. It lets me filter, examine, extract and rework the moments that are neither-here-nor-there into somewhere else altogether. 

When I get it right, my art reflects the wonkiness and celebrates it as a fascinating, joyful adventure even with its discomfort and uncertainty. My art lets the viewer share in the notion that otherness is not something to fear but something to embrace.

Artist Statement

I create functional, wheel-thrown pottery with occasional hand-built additions. The wheel is where I feel most at home. I carve designs, add decoration, and apply color by hand, using underglazes, carving, and glazes to bring depth and dimension to each piece. I primarily work with white stoneware and fire to cone 6 in an electric kiln, though some pieces are atmospherically wood-fired or gas-fired with salt or soda. My work often has a textured, tactile quality achieved through carving or by leaving surfaces unglazed.

My designs are influenced by a queer perspective living in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve developed several bodies of work over time. One series is more commercial, featuring rainbow motifs and a modern playful design. Another explores the nude male form, sometimes in sexually suggestive poses. I make the kind of work I wish I had seen growing up, pieces that are both affirming and accessible to a wide range of audiences.

I’m especially interested in reimagining how the male nude is represented in art. Too often, it’s viewed as crude or overtly sexual when displayed publicly. I aim to create work that is sensual and intimate without being pornographic, to present the male form as something beautiful, desirable, and welcome in everyday spaces.