statement

In my most recent drawings I have begun to more broadly explore visual complexity and ornamentation in conjunction with my prior interests--which have long been rooted in contemporary trends in figurative and portrait based works, as well as fringe images of the body, either in medical illustration or cartoons. This push towards excess and/or ornamentation propels the figures in to another space, and permits the psychological possibilities or fantasies of the figures (or those embedded in the narrative) to operates outside of normal spatial conventions, and in short become uncanny. In some respects my goal has been to make each new image more beautiful and self-indulgent than the last, while still challenging traditional notions of pain, violence, optimism, and beauty.

bio

born: 1973, Galesburg, Illinois

education

Northern Illinois University, MFA, 2000
North Central College, BFA, 1996

selected awards/honors

Best Of Show, Lawrence Street Gallery, 2012
Third Place, Union Street Gallery, 2011

selected publications

Direct Art, Vol 18, 2011
International Drawing Annual 5, Volume 5, Published by Manifest Creative Research and Drawing Center, 2010

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Kishwaukee College Art Gallery: Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Malta, IL, 2011

selected group shows

University of North Carolina Ashville: Drawing Discourse, Ashville, NC, 2012
Bridgewater State University: The Body, Bridgewater, MA, 2012
Torpedo Factory Art Center: In The Flesh III, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA, 2011