Intent

discover: to make known or visible; to obtain sight or knowledge of for the first time

From the first time a finger traces along the spiral of a seashell, our lives are permeated with the joy of discovery. Forms, patterns and experiences are stored in our memories and become part of the fundamental cognitive framework through which we identify and classify the world. Exploration and the thrill of discovery are fundamental aspects of the human condition. The desire to learn something new, to better ourselves, our lives and our community, are base driving forces. These same forces urge a person to explore frontiers of science or to create new works of art. Tapping into these primal connections and urges, my work evokes the desire to understand and makes possible the thrill of discovering something new.

At a distance, the familiar, organic forms engage the mind, beginning a journey of examination and interaction. With no reference of scale, the viewer is drawn closer until inches from the work, searching for additional clues which might aid in identification. With each step, the visual structures trigger subliminal reactions based on past experiences. In the end, the viewer is left with indefinable organic connections, suspended in the purposeful ambiguity of the work, not so abstract as to be esoteric, without connection to experience or nature.

These works are permeated with a beauty that can be grasped quickly but which also rewards thoughtful contemplation. They allow the viewer to become lost in the complex, organic details and provide engaging, calming points of meditation — inspirations for visual and mental exploration.

When time-based, the layers of animated changes occur on various time scales. Some are very slow, apparent only if one looks away from the work for a period of time and then returns to find some aspect of it has changed. Other changes occur much more rapidly and are noticeably rhythmic, but, as with breathing, the rhythms are imbued with variation. With no set beginning or end, these works allow the viewer to become lost in the continuum of the complex, rhythmic changes.

With a sense of true understanding placed just out of reach, the experience of the work is in a constant state of renewal and discovery.

Subject matter

The iridescence of a beetle; the twisting surfaces of a wilting leaf; the spiral forms and sutures of a fossilized mollusk shell; fissures growing in drying mud; the arches, loops and whorls of a fingerprint—all are examples of the natural forms and patterns that inspire these images. While such natural patterns and forms are sources of inspiration, literal translations are not created. The focus is combining distilled aspects from a number of sources and exploring the contrasts and ambiguities emerging from those combinations.

While the creative process is deeply engrained with new technology, in fact the technique only is possible because of technology, the artificial perfection is avoided. More intriguing are patterns found in the natural world—components of which repeat, but not necessarily with perfect symmetry; components of which are similar, but not necessarily identical. Many of the patterns created combine both periodic and aperiodic elements.

Inspired by the random, yet structured beauty and minute details of nature (flora, fauna and mineral), multitudes of objects often are included in works, frequently similar in form, yet always unique in their details. Details of color and texture mimic the level of physical detail found in the natural world and create an illusion of reality even while the viewer is confronted with the practical knowledge that the objects illustrated do not exist.

One of the most satisfying aspects of the process is the ability to create an image with physical levels of detail and realism without the constraints of physical materials. The path from inspiration and idea to implementation and image is direct and unencumbered.