Madison, WI Through the process of painting, I am searching for new ways of considering the familiar and ordinary, trying to respond to life’s encounters in a poetic way. The idiosyncrasies of my work are the result of an evolutionary development, with each work contributing to the next. New ideas fuse with previous discoveries, taking my work in unanticipated directions. The resulting imagery is often peculiar, with unusual subjects and environments that suggest provocative scenarios. However, I don’t want my work to be dismissed as mere fantasy. By creating a natural context, viewers will likely question and interpret my irrational imagery from a rational perspective. Ultimately, I am trying to create alternate realities, hoping my work will invite multiple interpretations, while remaining mysterious and enigmatic. In paintings, subjects can transcend their identity as ordinary artifacts of daily life and become metaphors for human experience. My paintings often include figurative elements, but even the still life arrangements are emblematic of human presence. Deliberately staged subjects suggest whimsical metaphors and mysterious narratives. My work is certainly representational, but I avoid depicting subjects in a way that would simply reflect or document the observed world. There is often a heightened description of textures that intensifies each object’s physical qualities. My work presents subjects that bare some resemblance to our shared observable reality, but the final imagery is mostly invented and constructs a new surreality for consideration. I often find ideas for my work in the work of others. Magritte’s sense of humor, methodically constructed visual vocabulary, and idiosyncratic representation of subjects have been a steady source of motivation for me. The process of making paintings is like having a conversation with artists from the past, responding and adding to the dialog they have started. Most recently, I have found inspiration in a detail from Hieronymus Bosch’s panel of Hell. I have created a series of works that explore the idea that Bosch’s Treeman had descendants that evolved into new manifestations and journeyed into new environments. In this exploration, I invented imagery with the hope of evoking the same enduring curiosity that I have for Bosch’s compelling imagery.