Artist Statement

The Silhouettes

The silhouette is a different way to look at the human body.  Every silhouette is unique, yet without interior lines giving us a sense of a person’s features it becomes somewhat anonymous.  The anonymity allows the viewer to relate to the emotional state rather than focusing on the appearance of a particular person.

I use the silhouette as a framework for the interior and emotional world that is contained within our minds and bodies.  We interact with one another while never really knowing what is going on inside.  I also find it interesting that we are so intimately involved with our own bodies yet we have no idea what we look like on the inside, visually we only see the exterior; we sense the interior.  What do our emotions look like?  

The paintings in the silhouette series function as shaped etching plates would.  The painting is contained within the silhouette much as an etching is contained within a plate and is surrounded by the white of the paper. In the case of etchings white space is completely acceptable.  In a painting, it is unexpected.  Furthermore, one expects to see a figure within a background, I am more interested in that which can happen within the confines of the figure physically and symbolically. 

Botanicals

Aspects of my paintings might appear to be in keeping with traditional botanical painting, I do not limit myself by observing rules that painters working in that genre appear to be bound by, such as an exact representation of a specimen in terms of contours and colours.  For esthetic or allegorical reasons I twist stems or flowers in directions that are typically not seen in nature. I also change colours to create different meanings and visual excitement.  By ignoring rules, I am able to juxtapose objects, which create new meanings and visual interest through contrast of objects and colours one would not expect to see together. My interests in terms of subject matter do not always lie within the bounds of visual reality.  Although I depict one object realistically in a painting, it does not dictate that the rest of the painting be executed in a similar manner.