My current work, the DRIVE Series, is a study in contrasts. I juxtapose abstract painting and photographic imagery, using two or more separate canvases. The enlarged photographic images are printed on canvas using latex inks. The loosely painted abstract canvases contrast with the sleek, color-charged photo images. Movement and direction are simultaneously implied, as well as spatial extremes of near and far. Color and structure unite the two or more canvases.
The concepts of implying movement, capturing the fleeting instant by shooting with my cell phone, looking for the odd point of view, and injecting a cinematic narrative in my DRIVE series grew out of frequent trips on the Mass Pike while moving from upstate New York back to central Massachusetts. Since that move, I’ve photographed structural elements such as bridges and tunnels, arrows, lane markings, signs, signals and sinuous rivers shot from above, on highways in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island. This imagery suits my purposes on multiple levels. I am moved by the sheer graphic beauty of yellow arrows guiding me along a curve on a highway or the swooping path of a tunnel.
I was asked by a fellow artist if the photographs influence the paintings. The answer is yes and no. It’s really more of a dialogue. The photos are shot and printed before the paintings are begun. I’ve predetermined the size of the canvases. The structure and color palette of the photos naturally influence the paintings. However, when shooting the photos, I’m doing so with an abstract painter’s eye, looking for structure, direction and the odd point of view. While editing the photos, I push them to nearly abstract extremes in terms of color and cropping. Once printed, often as large as 30”x40”, the photos become more like the paintings. The dialogue goes back and forth. The “marriage” of the dissimilar canvases into a cohesive whole is an exciting challenge for me.
This process ties together many elements, techniques and themes that have interested me throughout my career, while at the same time pushing me into unknown territory. I’m taken with the notions of where am I going, where are we, what’s next?
The concepts of implying movement, capturing the fleeting instant by shooting with my cell phone, looking for the odd point of view, and injecting a cinematic narrative in my DRIVE series grew out of frequent trips on the Mass Pike while moving from upstate New York back to central Massachusetts. Since that move, I’ve photographed structural elements such as bridges and tunnels, arrows, lane markings, signs, signals and sinuous rivers shot from above, on highways in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island. This imagery suits my purposes on multiple levels. I am moved by the sheer graphic beauty of yellow arrows guiding me along a curve on a highway or the swooping path of a tunnel.
I was asked by a fellow artist if the photographs influence the paintings. The answer is yes and no. It’s really more of a dialogue. The photos are shot and printed before the paintings are begun. I’ve predetermined the size of the canvases. The structure and color palette of the photos naturally influence the paintings. However, when shooting the photos, I’m doing so with an abstract painter’s eye, looking for structure, direction and the odd point of view. While editing the photos, I push them to nearly abstract extremes in terms of color and cropping. Once printed, often as large as 30”x40”, the photos become more like the paintings. The dialogue goes back and forth. The “marriage” of the dissimilar canvases into a cohesive whole is an exciting challenge for me.
This process ties together many elements, techniques and themes that have interested me throughout my career, while at the same time pushing me into unknown territory. I’m taken with the notions of where am I going, where are we, what’s next?