statement

My work takes the form of a dialogue between two modes of representation: description and expression.  The realism or description is achieved through the use of photography and the abstraction or expression, through the employment of painting, with the conversation taking place on the surface of the substrate.  The viewer is invited to participate in this conversation and is free to add his or her own interpretation.  The work is both process oriented and expressively immediate.  There are elements of planning and procedure and yet even these aspects are tinged with uncertainty.  Certain areas completed with paint appear to be photographic and areas in the photo take on a painterly quality in an act of unusual symmetry.  The photographic portion of the work is focused on the architectural and representational which acts as a symbol of the conventional method of viewing the world around us.  Objects are recognizable and the spaces are familiar within our definition of a domestic setting.  A connection can be established that draws the viewer in and makes them question what exactly they are looking at.  The painted layer represents a completely separate, more artistic way of seeing.  It is unreserved, intrusive creativity.  The mark making is exaggerated and fully saturated leaving certain areas of the photograph completely obscured and others dramatically highlighted.  The paint is responsive to it's setting and therefore acts as a second way of describing it. The discussion between the two mediums becomes about the act of looking.  The conventional way of seeing and the creative act of looking come together in a complex visual conversation.

bio

born: 1987, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

education

University of Calgary, BFA Studio Concentration, 2011

selected awards/honors

BMO 1st Art Nominee, 2011
Jason Lang Scholarship for Academic Achievement, University of Calgary, 2008-2011
Jack Wise Award for Excellence in Painting, University of Calgary, 2010

selected publications

Twenty - Eleven BFA Thesis Exhibition Catalogue, 2011
The New Gallery Collection, 2011

selected solo or two-person exhibits

The New Gallery +15 Space:  Translations, Calgary, Alberta, 2012

selected group shows

The Gallery:  Five, Calgary, Alberta, 2012
Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery:  6x6x2012, Rochester, NY, 2012
C1RCA Showroom:  Two Liners, Calgary, Alberta, 2012
Virginia Christopher Fine Art:  Twenty - Eleven BFA Thesis Exhibition, Calgary, Alberta, 2011