statement

I live in a big city. But I grew up in a small community in the Canadian prairies. There is a wave of nostalgia that rushes over me when traveling along the highway back to my hometown. The familiar terrain is welcoming and friendly. I am overwhelmed by comfort and excitement. It is a sense of home.

I am not a traditional landscape artist. I experience a paradoxial attraction for both rural and urban scapes. I am stirred by the sharp, significant lines that construct both places. My quest is to find balance in the void of the quiet land and the visual complexity of the modern city.

I deconstruct landscape images by instinctively selecting colours and lines to form a specific rhythm and light for each painting. The lines replicate the movement of a vehicle through the sprawl to expose an assortment of effects and conditions. The composition is layered and distorted to create contrast and the notion of mood, seasons and time.

Through each painting, I feel more connected to who I am and my surroundings. These paintings are abstract landscapes. The process involves the opposition of strong, decisive marks to form a vaguely familiar location. I experience great anticipation to see and interpret ordinary places in a fresh, new context.  

bio

born: 1975, Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada

education

University of Saskatchewan, BA (Studio Art), 1998

selected awards/honors

Canada Day Poster Challenge Finalist, National Competition, 1994
Art Award, Yorkton Regional High School, 1993
Canada Day Poster Challenge Finalist, National Competition, 1993
Canada Day Youth Award, National Competition, 1993

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Open Spaces Window to A View, City of Calgary Public Art Program, Calgary, AB, 2010

selected group shows

Artist Home and Studio Tour, Triangle Gallery, Calgary, AB, 2011
Seasonal Affective, The New Gallery, Calgary, AB, 2010
Extended Abstract, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, AB, 2010
Outside In, Gibson Fine Art, Calgary, AB, 2009