Traveling Dream 2008-2012

My photography comes from a lifelong obsession of exploring how my subconscious generates my dreams. As I move through my day, I am keenly aware of my encounters with people, places and things. I mentally record the details of these situations, and the physical or emotional responses that they evoke. These fleeting associations replay themselves in my dreams. The random moments combine to form sleep stories that are rich narratives, ripe with symbolism. With that as my model, I construct sets, use props and invite myself and models to perform in a natural, intuitive way. In essence, I attempt to create a waking dream.

For me, it is about being in the moment of a planned vision. That is where I'm most connected to my creativity.


Fishes Woe  2008

The small series “Fishes Woe” came about during a time when my son was discovering life and what it meant to be alive.  I used these playful times to teach and explore the process of life and death in an interactive manner.  All the fishes lived happy lives.


Traces of Existence 2011

The motive in this body of work is to mend the tension and tragedy created when conflicting emotions meet. Walking through the highs of my recent travel to China and the lows of significant personal loss, I have been searching for a visual level of communication that would unite traces of my existence. I have become increasingly fascinated by how tenacious life is and yet how in a moment survival ceases. The fragility of life is represented in this work by a personal language of symbols. I want all my images to have real meaning for me, even if it is not easily read by the viewer. By working more abstractly, the dissimilar images connect to one another in unexpected ways causing a thought or idea to evolve. The juxtaposition of death and despair, represented by skeletons, old age and holes connected to a joyous life filled with children, birds and Ferris Wheels examine the complicated and chaotic ways in which life contracts, expands, converges and divests in our personal journeys. By stretching the image to near disintegration by burning, freezing and submersions I seek to release my emotions and give respect to a life that has been fully lived. The emotions I sought to bandage together resulted in a somber, but completely liberating experience.

Process: Numerous layers of hand painted photographs, drawings and resin make up a single image. The final results are a complex layering process and not complete digital manipulations. The image is printed and re-photographed under various conditions in one final effort to heal the tender wounds that bind my own existence.


Circadian  2012

The summer of 2012 I set off to create visual summations of our daily lives. Each day was met with anticipation, angst, joy and wonder. Along with creating daily I also kept a “running” list of the conversations and questions that my son and I had. The list is chaotic, charming and honest. In between the small tidbits of questions and answers lie an honest dialogue of our reactions and summary of the summer. In hindsight the images I created correlate beautifully to the dialogue that follows

Circadian dialogue here


Home by Nightfall 2012-2014

Silence ceased for him in 2011
not a whisper, but a relentless roaring thunder
molding his spirit into mourning

In his misery, a new vaporous malice was brewing
the ringing was a warning
tinnitus and cancer were converging

Every known eradication was pursued
He and I, separated by many miles,
shared a need for solitude
cultivated by lucid country drives

We drove separately through the dark districts of our minds
invariably contemplating what was to come,
a symbiotic transitory landscape emerged
and the thunder soared in 2013

Questions, Answers, Questions, Answers
Questions, Answers, Questions, Answers
Questions, Answers, Questions, Answers
all tedious throbbing answers

How many miles in a life?
What shape is the color grey?
When does an echo become whole?

During the three years of relentless discord,
I created  images of these ambiguous queries
emoting, sensing, seeking

There is a truth in "big" questions with small answers
Clarity in the midst of chaos
Hope in the face of despair

Silence returned for him on May 24, 2014
He was my father