artist statement

In the various arts disciplines and mediums I work in, the important elements I seek are related to our universal experiences as emotional, intellectual, constantly evolving human individuals. I am profoundly interested in the human experience (its dilemmas and joys), in what binds us and creates connections between us. I am as much interested in the soul of people (and things) as in the surface realities. Stories are tantamount. I believe in the sacred nature of “story” in the sense that the telling of stories has been the primary conduit of sharing our human nature between cultures and ages, whether in words, in film, in a photograph, or visual art. Human actions (and the emotions that describe our actions) define us in love, in war, in pain, in joy. I seek to capture these stories of human  action whether its in my writing, theatre, photography, filmmaking, or art work. The impulse comes from the same place (my curiosity about us as beautiful, and often suffering, creatures). The artistic medium may shift, but seeking out the human grace that resides within our contradictory emotional lives is the steadfast principle behind my work.

 ABSTRACT WORK AND PORTRAITS

The abstract work  is an exploration of various mediums (water and ink, liquid acrylic, hard and soft pastels) in abstract formations that relate in memory to my own grandmother’s painted Ukrainian Easter Eggs (“Pysanka”). Baba, as we called her, worked six hours a day on her eggs, her art, for almost 100 years of her long life. My own work is a meditation on the memory of the shapes (often ovals), patterns, and colors she used. I wished to explore in my work the meditative state that I know she found in her own creative life. Her eggs to my mind and memory are (with the exception of relationships) the most precious elements in my life. They are artifacts of her existence and a family legacy. In my own way, I have attempted to create similar artifacts that are laden with precious memory, caring, and a joy in living.