As a greater artistic theme, I’m exploring memory and its relationship to reality and fantasy. As both subject and observer, I’m particularly interested in the behavior of collecting and the emotional involvement in the pursuit of objects tied to memory. As an artist, my livelihood relies on collectors, so I’m deeply curious about the hierarchy of assigned, or imagined, value and power. Collectors assign these properties to the objects and people they pursue because they provide joy, beauty, and relief while facilitating an escape into the magical world of their design.

As primarily a figurative painter, flowers pose me a new challenge. I enjoy the conversations that arise when contemplating the emotional duality that old objects innately project while witnessing the fleeting life and beauty of fresh-cut flowers. The vases are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, so I began playing with scale, painting on canvas five to ten feet high, placing the viewer eye to eye with the head vase, and inviting a conversation about time and reality.