My paintings, drawings and lithographs reflect our mediated view of the world whether through windows, photographs, cameras or memories.

Recently, I have been working from photos of cars and other vehicles – the photos given to me for the most part by their owners. The first was done as a favor to a friend and was very peripheral to my work; however, I came to realize there was something fundamental in it worth exploring. The vehicles in people’s lives can become integral to their identities, and the photograph equally important to them as a talisman for the vehicle, even after it is long gone.

I am intrigued and fascinated by the transformation of an object into a cherished possession then to an equally cherished photograph, then into a unique work of art that could itself become somebody’s possession. This process is a rich source of material to address ideas about meaning, identity and representation. When people begin reminiscing about their vehicles upon seeing my work, I feel I’ve completed the connection from life to art then back to the world again.

My process is purposefully painstaking, with a mind to creating tension between the scene depicted and the physical object I am making. I grid my reference photo and draw and paint square by square, allowing the image to slowly emerge, like a photo materializing in a developing tray or a memory rising to consciousness from the depths. However, my work is an accumulation of small and varied brushstrokes or drawing marks, quite different from the flat, impersonal surface of a photograph.

This process is a cumulative one of small decisions on the way to the final image that shapes the whole. I want the work to take shape while I make it, and avoid finishing for its own sake. I keep working and reflecting over an extended period to keep the process alive, remaining open to unforeseen possibilities. When all the avenues have been explored, and the work takes on a certain form with no chance of recovery – it is finished. The only thing for me to do is to move on to the next one.