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I am a still-life painter, however, instead of painting familiar and traditional subjects, I paint pictures of paper. This confuses some people because they believe my paintings are collaged, but in fact they are not.

 

Remnants of the past: old stamps, pages of diaries, pieces from well-thumbed books are my subjects. By invoking simple and authentic materials from bygone times, my paintings suggest the symbiotic relationship between past and present.

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Each letter or piece of paper is painted with multiple layers of acrylic paint. I do all the actual writing and fine detail work by hand with archival pens. I work from real letters and memorabilia that I have gathered over many years and from all over the world.

 

I find great beauty in these old papers. They are nostalgic reminders of things that no longer exist and histories of bygone times. Most of the letters can be read. They come from different decades and locations, but their content is amazingly relevant and endearingly timeless.  

 

Space and color are key elements in these minimal compositions, as these elements transform the ephemera into abstract painterly shapes. Because each letter or piece of writing has its own story, abstraction and narration go together.

 

Today when emails are quickly read and deleted, these paper keepsakes survive. My paintings present life not as then versus now, but as an inescapable circle of time and memory. Although the human figure is absent from my work, my art is deeply rooted in the human condition.

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