(Revised 7/2009)



As an artist I want to create images that inspire people to appreciate the profound and often overlooked aspects of life and the world around us. My work reflects an ongoing investigation into the nature of suffering and hope, inspired by a sincere concern for the human condition and a deep appreciation of the natural world.



My paintings are sharp-focus still lifes, in which I merge a classical trompe l'œil aesthetic with allegorical themes involving modern subject matter—often visceral, bloody, and grotesque. Through this use of unsettling symbolism I hope to create a space in which emotional certainties waver, taste loses its bearings, and familiar assumptions of reality are manipulated. The comforts of constructed knowledge or accepted belief systems, which we often take for granted, are questioned or subverted, and difficult questions are posed to the more perceptive viewer. With this approach I hope to ultimately communicate a reverence for our human experience, and promote a mindfulness regarding the consequences of thoughts and actions.



My work is rooted in a strong sense of technicality and precision. I strive for a convincing sense of realism in order to lend a sense of photographic credibility to the often-abstract concepts or impossible juxtapositions of subject matter.





"You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering." - Henri-Frédéric Amiel