Series

Hives, Bombs & Jellyfish

2006 to 2007 · 16 works

What I wrote at the time

Random actions and gestural elements constitutes exploration of formal artistic problems in my work. The random actions become formalistic elements that create shapes and lines which repeat to give balance and/or harmony. The Gestures are motivated by discovery and exploration of aesthetic value. They emerge with the use of gesticulatory line and color, making me the conduit and interpreter of what the aesthetic can be.

My work is refined to be precise, with the intention of investigating. Perception and the subtle shift between macrocosm and microcosm, and the dichotomy of abstraction and representation is a reoccurring theme in the work. Lines, shape, and color in my work creates a field of visual play. that is constantly stirring and insightful.

The role and purpose of the human creature on earth, the abstract aspects of how humans interact with their environments, that they create, and the rationalization of the reality and chaos that people make when abusing our planet is abstracted and expressed in my work. Shapes, nature, people, negative, positives, interaction between, and issues that form our world is my subject matter. The hives represents basic structures created by nature that can be both physical or abstract. The bombs are atoms or particles which are the driving forces of nature, however, in human hands they can be destructive. Explosions are continuing technology that is both creative and destructive in society. The jellyfish which represent the negative and ignorant aspects of people. However all three symbols represent a dichotomy of positive and negative.

Martin Kippenberg once said an artist should reject the traditional idea that he or she should work to achieve a signature style. Instead an artist should create a persona that shifts in multiple directions at once.

I want to be known as an artist and not just as a skillful painter. By Transcending and adapting my ideas, I will be known for my works and not only for my media. Like a persona which goes in multiple directions at once.

Reading it again, 2026

Painting made from 2006 and completed in April of 2007 for my BFA Thesis solo exhibition.

Random actions and gestural elements are methods of creating and exploring interesting artistic conditions to begin my work. The random actions become elements that create shapes and lines that repeat to give balance and harmony. Lines, shapes, and colors in my work create a field of visual play that I constantly react to and project into with a theme or subject matter. At first, the gestures on the surface are motivated by the discovery and exploration of their intrinsic aesthetic values. Theme and subject emerge out of contemplating and reacting to gesticulatory images that start to appear, making me the conduit and interpreter of what the subject can be.

For these twelve works, I aimed to blur the perception of the subtle shift between macrocosm and microcosm, and the dichotomy of conception and representation of a subject.

The subject for this series of paintings was the role and purpose of the human creature on earth. I tried to express the caricatured aspects of how humans interact with the environments that they create. I wanted the viewer to revisit the attitudes and the reality of the chaos that people experience when operating in our natural environment.

Positive and negative interactions between natural forms, people, and issues about our position in the natural environment became the subject matter. The hives represent basic structures created by nature that can be both physically and ideologically compartmentalizing.

The bombs are parodies of atoms or particles, which are the awesome driving forces of nature but, in human hands, are only valued for their chemical or destructive potential. Explosions are a category of phenomena that are dualistic, being both creative and destructive in different figurative and literal contexts.

The jellyfish conveyed the banal and naive primordial aspects of humans. However, all three symbols represent a dichotomy in humanity's past, present, and future.

Martin Kippenberg stated that artists should reject the traditional idea that they should work to achieve a signature style. Instead, an artist should create a persona that shifts in multiple directions at once.

I aspire to find truths as an artist and not just practice to be skillful in my practice. I hope to present ideas that transcend any single medium and create an artistic persona that grows in multiple directions at once.