The structures I paint on are made primarily out of discarded wood. The building where my studio is located also houses carpenters who generously give me their scraps. I pick through this residue to pull out the interesting shapes and forms. There is a lot of collecting in my process. I visit thrift stores looking for wooden animals, bowls, and bric-a-brac to cut and fit into my structures. Collecting and reformation are vital parts of my work, and allow me to create wonderful problems for myself.

Constructing the forms is a cross between playing with building blocks and fitting together a puzzle. The process is a negotiation between my aspirations and the stubborn nature of the forms. Each step of the construction informs the next, with color being my ultimate instrument and negotiator.

The paintings are intended to act architecturally, figuratively, or topographically, either all at once or independently. They are houses, they are friends, and they are road maps. In dark times, these paintings offer escape routes to joy.