statement

Scientific perspectives on animal intelligence have radically shifted in recent years. Novelist J.M. Coetzee, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, philosopher and bioethicist Peter Singer and animal science expert Temple Grandin have written (and continue to) extensively on the subject, and it is to this ongoing conversation that I attempt to contribute through visual art.

In ink and charcoal drawings, I have begun to explore how best to represent the process of imprinting on birds. This drawing features an imprinted screech owl and incorporates atmospheric fingerprinting and presstype text. The real-world Hubert, a resident at Barnswallow (an extraordinary bird rehabilitation center in Wauconda, IL), is calm and relaxed around humans; however, in the presence of other birds and owls, Hubert becomes agitated and fearful. Hubert is apparently unaware of his identity as a screech owl and accordingly is frightened of his own species. This drawing is intended to manifest that identity confusion, as well as the manner in which material and process can function as vehicles for meaning (imprinting interpreted with fingerprinted language and an increase in the owl's scale suggesting species transform).

bio

born: Canada

education

The Ohio State University, MFA, 1995
NSCAD University, BFA, 1989

selected awards/honors

Grand Prize for sculpture, Sustain Exhibition, UIS Visual Arts Gallery, Springfield, Illinois, 2010
Third Place Award for sculpture, Marlboro Gallery National Juried Exhibition, Largo, Maryland, 2010

selected publications

Vertical Team Guide for Advanced Placement Studio Art. Published by College Board AP, 2012
William and Mary Review, College of William and Mary, Volume 46, p.5, 2008

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Richmond Center for Visual Arts; Kith and Kin; Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2013
Kimura Gallery; jabberwocking; University of Alaska, Anchorage, Arakansas, 2013
Sarratt Gallery; The Pecking Order; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 2012
Edwin 2739 Gallery; Lay of the Land;  Detroit, Michigan, 2011

selected group shows

Sylvia White Gallery: Collector's Choice, Ventura, California, 2014
Cooperstown Art Association: Cooperstown National Juried Art Exhibition, New York, 2013
Sioux City Art Center: 62nd Juried Exhibition, Sioux City, Iowa, 2012
Lalit Kala Akademi (The National Academy of Fine Art): Multiple Encounters-Second Edition, New Delhi, India 2012