Artist Statement

Permeable Membrane Series, Wood Lithogrpaphy

Over the last several years, I have increasingly utilized print processes in my studio practice and have produced works on paper, canvas and felt supports.  I use printmaking to produce works in series and as components in paintings and book projects.  I am interested in pattern-based strategies where motifs are repeated and recycled to explore variation and permutations within a limited set of motifs. The use of pattern sets up expectations of order, stability and regularity but the rhythms and repetitions are broken, shifted and superimposed in such a way that no visual certainty exists.  

I am actively engaged in exploring print processes that offer a lower negative impact on the environment and on the human body.  I have recently been exploring dremel-engraving on plexiglass, silk aquatint, watercolour silkscreen, collagraph, digitally manipulated images printed with Computer to Plate (Xante) lithography and other processes that avoid the use of acids, Volatile Organic Compounds and the generation of hazardous wastes. In June 2010 I participated as a visiting artist at a print residency at L’Atelier de l’Île in Val-David, Quebec.  I  produced a series of works utilizing the Electro-etch system available in that facility.

The imagery I use fluctuates between abstraction and recognizable forms derived from observing, drawing and photographing wetland areas.  Visually, these spaces provide a continually changing source of optical information related to repetition and variation that connect with my interests in pattern.  The fluid pond surface is both recognizable and abstract and invites a broad range of associations.  The imagery is simultaneously dynamic and restorative, inviting a contemplative state that provides an alternative to the fast pace of contemporary information.  

        In addition to the optical possibilities offered by the pond surface imagery, I believe that the wetland invites associations with sustainability. Once viewed as inaccessible, unproductive and insect infested areas, we now understand the unique contribution of wetlands as biologically diverse, productive, filtering, purification and flood management systems and significant players in the balance of hydrology and ecology.  Significant portions of wetlands across North America have been converted to urban, agricultural and industrial development making the conservation of wetlands a current topic of concern.