My work as a painter embodies an ongoing exploration of the relationship between representational and abstract painting. It is the unpredictability and mysteries of nature that intrigue me.

Our modern-day relationship with nature has evolved in many ways. As more of us than ever before live in cities and work indoors, our encounters with nature have become increasingly rare and brief… and seldom do we have the opportunity to experience it with all our senses. We encounter scenery only while driving by it, or through the lens of a camera, or accompanied by music plugged into our ears. And most often, I find we experience the natural wonders outside our doors through photography, movies, and digital content produced by others—a second-hand experience of something powerful.

In addition to my personal experiences in nature, I draw inspiration from diverse sources. I see images or clips of cloud formations, waterfalls, mountains, icebergs and waves…or traditional landscape paintings by masters such as Claude Lorrain and Caspar David Friedrich.

My recent body of work depicts places I have traveled to over the course of my life. Places that have had an impact and remained meaningful to me over time. I am painting mostly from photos I took while traveling. In addition, I pull from my background as a graphic designer by incorporating geometric as well as organic shapes. Rather than creating photorealistic depictions of nature, my aim is to capture an atmosphere or memory. I am interested in the experimental and transformative act of painting: taking liberties with color, form, space, and movement. While carefully considering notions of balance, rhythm, unity, disruption and the incomplete, I work mostly in slow movements and in multiple layers.

As I translate the experience of viewing nature into paintings on canvas, I also strive to reconcile the opposing elements and forces of nature that impact my personal world, and the world around me.