ARTIST STATEMENT

From tables vs. chairs to cowboys vs. aliens and cookies vs. milk, The Line Wars began as a series of over 100, 9x12 inches, ink drawings that emerged from sketches and doodles--the most rudimentary expression of visual thinking. The images are based on the entertainments of childhood and adolescence: Video games, action figures, strategy board games--always two forces opposing one another. The Line Wars is a celebration of making impulsive, nonchalant drawings, as well as a personal journey into nostalgia and an homage to geekdom.

Emerging from this series came a body of work set on the exploration of mediums.  In contrast to the uniformity of the small works, my practice evolved to include sculpture and painting, along with new and various drawing materials.  In large-scale drawings, each medium takes on its own significance, resembling armies battling one another and encapsulating The Line Wars in a single epic composition.  In sculptural work I co-opt a modeling material generally relegated to the realm of childhood whimsy, assigning a new gravity to the medium with its embodiment of machines of war, while enamel works employ a substance most often associated with industrial production to evoke one of modern man's most destructive developments.

In painting I use conventions like photorealism and landscape, employing concepts of war on the process of painting itself. I attack my own paintings by adding fantastical elements onto historical imagery or strategically invade my landscapes, drawing armies on the surface, turning tranquil sceneries into potential battlefields.

Attack!