Artist Statement

Before the formation of written languages, humanity sought to communicate their ideas to one another through paintings. The caves at Lascaux, as well as numerous other archaeological sites, offer a mysterious glimpse into our own nature as well as that of our ancestors. The old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", continually rings true, even in an age of unprecedented and boundless technology. Despite no logical need, the human still finds themselves in need of an outlet- we require connection and communication outside of the scope of normal conversation, and have for immeasurable millenia. What drives this most base instinct, to connect with one another and communicate complex ideas through images?

When I turn these ideas over in my mind, I see the whole of art history stretched out before me in a long timeline. We see the embodiment of human ideals, the feelings of entire nations, we smell flowers in a meadow and we transcend time. We see the world through different lenses, different angles, different viewpoints. We see the ascension and mastery of lighting and form, and then we see things descend into soup cans, lazy charlatans who attempt to convince us of the inherent value in an entire painting utilizing only one or two colors, and worst of all, we see creativity relegated to the gutters of society and stripped of all respectability.

As a lifelong artist, i feel a strong need to take my place along that timeline, and to attempt to restore honor to the creative endeavor as well as the creative mind. I take my art very seriously and have a difficult time respecting those who erroneously value the artistic process over the finished product. To me it is the equivalent of riding a bus to nowhere. It is a fundamentally flawed and shamelessly selfish way of thinking, and likely responsible for so many of the problems that plague humanity today.

I respect the traditions of the old masters. I am classically trained in oil painting techniques, and utilize them exclusively in my artwork. It is my sincere belief that digital art will never surpass traditional art, and that the experience of physically viewing a piece of artwork in person will allow you to empathetically connect with the ideas and feelings encapsulated therein. You will also see it as the artist intended, without the interference of technology attempting to minimize the contrast and attempting to "fix" the colors. Digital photographs of paintings nearly always have distorted colors.
Adding to this, original paintings force us to stop, to look critically, and to think about what it is we are seeing and how this piece was executed. That exercise alone makes traditional painting infinitely more valuable than something someone will devote 3 seconds to on a social media news feed. This world is in desperate need of things that force us to step outside of our ego-centric technology addiction and think.

For me, art is a somewhat mystical experience: a reminder of the temporal reality in which we exist.
We will die, but if we do our work well, it may live on forever. The bust always outlasts the throne.