Brooklyn, NY
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 42”, 2019
The Other Side:
Deathbed visions have been documented extensively since ancient times. Nobody knows for sure if this phenomenon is the result of hallucinations produced in the brain to mitigate the process of dying, or actual contact with entities from the "other side". The visions reported throughout history tend to be predominantly optimistic and comforting, usually involving visions of an awaiting Paradise (pure light, bountiful nature, infinite landscapes) or entities (loved ones, angels, religious figures and other supernatural presences) who encourage the dying to embrace the imminence of death and offer assistance in guiding them into the afterlife.
The paintings in this series are a collection of “folk visions”, fantastical stylizations of the moment of crossing over. The birds are symbolic apparitions, like angels stationed at the gates of Heaven, forever waiting to welcome each new arrival into the afterlife. Although their appearance shifts from one painting to the next, the birds depicted are always the same pair (different representations for different visions). Rendered colorless, the canvases can be displayed in the vertical orientation of one’s choosing (ideally, right-side up if the eyes have pupils [still earthbound], upside down if the eyes are empty [ethereal]) to indicate that a crossing over has either occurred, or is about to occur (note: cemetery art often uses inverted iconography to symbolize everlasting life, or the passing of the soul into the next realm).
The appropriation of Pennsylvania Dutch folk/kitsch/fraktur art motifs was originally chosen as a starting point, specifically for its “Wilkum” sentiment and mystical origins. But for me, it also wonderfully encapsulates a sentimental, earthly, and tenderly human interpretation of boundless love, imperishable life, eternal hope, and the secret wisdom that seems to be embedded all around us in Nature; the essential qualities we hope to gain upon letting go of our human existence. People who experience deathbed visions typically see what they know, the earthbound qualities that provide them comfort. And while the rest of us won't know what, if anything, awaits us until the time has come, we continue to find solace contemplating the possibility that at least one of the immeasurable number of deathbed visions that have occurred since the beginning of human existence might have been the real thing.
As this ongoing series progresses, it is evolving to incorporate additional influences and perspectives.
HGK 2021
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 42”, 2019
untitled (belladonna), acrylic on canvas, 72” x 42”, 2021
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 42”, 2020
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 42”, 2021
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 42”, 2021
untitled (funerary painting), graphite and Flashe on canvas, 72” x 54”, 2022
untitled (funerary painting, detail), graphite and Flashe on canvas, 72” x 54”, 2022
untitled (funerary painting), graphite and Flashe on canvas, 70” x 50”, 2022
untitled (funerary painting, detail), graphite and Flashe on canvas, 70” x 50”, 2022
untitled (funerary painting), graphite and Flashe on canvas, 72” x 56”, 2022
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”, 2021
untitled (detail), acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”, 2021
untitled (double spell, detail), acrylic on canvas, 84” x 48”, 2018
untitled (double spell), acrylic on canvas, 84” x 48”, 2018
untitled (double spell, detail), acrylic on canvas, 68" x 46", 2020
untitled (double spell), acrylic on canvas, 68" x 46", 2020
untitled (double spell, detail), acrylic on canvas, 68" x 46", 2017
untitled (double spell), acrylic on canvas, 68" x 46", 2018
untitled (double spell), acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 84” x 48”, 2021
untitled (double spell, detail), acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 84” x 48”, 2021
untitled (double spell, detail), acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 84” x 48”, 2021
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
Green-Wood:
The format of the Green-Wood drawings came from looking at the strange, stylized landscapes painted on old Islamic fritware dishes and ancient Chinese porcelain. Although these early decorative embellishments were based on natural elements and situations, their depictions often seemed to stretch the boundaries of reality, presenting the natural world as if from a mysterious parallel universe. There’s something equally comforting and disquieting about these anonymously painted landscapes, as if they’re revealing a level of consciousness or an aspect of the human experience that feels familiar, yet will remain forever out of reach.
Throughout the Covid pandemic, I've spent countless afternoons and evenings wandering the grounds of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn by myself; meandering aimlessly through the monuments, sitting under the trees, listening to the sounds around me, watching the seasons change. It became my favorite place of respite, the only place on my side of Brooklyn where I can feel surrounded by nature and wander for hours without coming in close contact with another human being. Cemeteries inherently provide an ideal setting for personal reflection and the contemplation of the many things we don’t understand about existence. I began to see the landscapes within Green-Wood as a direct link to the hidden and the eternal, the same parallel felt while looking at the painted landscapes on ancient Islamic and Chinese pottery. The scenes in this group of drawings all relate to my Green-Wood experiences. Each is based on an actual illustration from the distant past, distilled to the most essential elements, rendered in near silhouette and modified (through the suggestion of cemetery markings and monuments, the occasional substitution of flora and fauna, etc.) to fit my personal Green-Wood narrative. The drawings are at once windows into the past, present and future; each scene somehow encapsulating the full knowledge of the inner workings of existence, even if I’m forever incapable of comprehending what all that encompasses.
HGK 2020
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (green-wood), graphite, Flashe and rainwater on wood, 24” x 18”, 2021
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24” x 18”, 2021
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24”x18”, 2022
untitled (green-wood), graphite and Flashe on wood, 24” x 18”, 2022
untitled (version 1), acrylic on canvas, 20” x 24”, 2021
untitled (version 2), acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 62” x 48”, 2021
untitled (version 2, detail), acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 62” x 48”, 2021
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72" x 54", 2016
3.13.16
The spells first took form as a series of graphite or charcoal “drawings”, hidden over the years in the dark corners of private dwellings and other inconspicuous places. Left anonymously, the drawings were usually executed in quiet areas where they were likely to remain undiscovered for long periods of time, possibly forever. A person who happens upon one is left with no indication of intention or purpose. Without context, the drawings recall both the protection symbols and curses of earlier times. They seem to be communicating something to the person who finds them, but their intention or purpose has been lost to history.
untitled (spell), acrylic on canvas, 60"x48", 2017
I began making the spell paintings in 2016. I’d been refining the visual content of my work for a while, emptying out the space, and looking for ways to incorporate my interest in art’s ability to represent metaphysical concepts and induce spiritual, or even mystical experiences. I wanted an open-ended body of work that did not reference anything specific in the physical world, yet had the ability to represent or embody an infinite range of associations within the mind of the person who chooses to spend time with them. I wanted to make paintings I could sit and stare at for long periods of time. The spells are inherently quiet, meditative. They are intended for quiet spaces. Under the right conditions they have the ability to hypnotize, to dissociate the viewer from the passage of time. I’m attracted to art that seems to possess an inner power, one that extends beyond the reach of the artist who created it. These paintings look upon the person who is looking back at them. They become charged by the circumstances in which they exist, absorbing history and accumulating meaning.
untitled (spell), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell, detail), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell, detail), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell, detail), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell), acrylic and house paint on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell, detail), acrylic and house paint on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2019
untitled (spell), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2020
untitled (spell, detail), acrylic on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2020
untitled (spell), acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2020
untitled (spell, detail), acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2020
untitled (spell), acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2021
untitled (spell, detail), acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 36” x 22”, 2021
untitled, powdered graphite, casein and acrylic on wood, 24" x 18", 2018
untitled, powdered graphite, casein and acrylic on wood, 24" x 18", 2018
untitled, powdered graphite, casein and acrylic on wood, 24" x 18", 2018
untitled, powdered graphite, casein and acrylic on wood, 24" x 18", 2018
untitled, powdered graphite, casein and acrylic on wood, 24" x 18", 2018
untitled, powdered graphite, casein and acrylic on wood, 24" x 18", 2018
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (spell, detail), graphite and gesso on wood, 24” x 18”, 2020
untitled (spell), gesso and graphite on wood, 24” x 18”, 2021
untitled (ghost), acrylic on canvas, 58" x 50", 2017
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2017
untitled (detail), acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2017
untitled (detail), acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2017
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 66” x 50”, 2019
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 58”, 2018
untitled (detail), acrylic on canvas, 72” x 58”, 2018
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 50”, 2020
untitled (detail), acrylic on canvas, 72” x 50”, 2020
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 48”, 2021
untitled (detail), acrylic on canvas, 72” x 48”, 2021
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 72" x 48", 2017
untitled, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2015
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), acrylic on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (spell), graphite and gesso on wood, 10” x 8”, 2020
untitled (funerary painting), powdered graphite and Flashe on canvas, 50” x 40”, 2019
untitled (funerary painting, detail), powdered graphite and Flashe on canvas, 2019