Media Used and Artistic Process
My working process is directly affected by my having spastic cerebral palsy. Starting with found grounds, I begin drawing and building up the surface with line using oil stick and oil pastels. Drawing is at the core of my artistic process. The disconnect between my mind and physical abilities gives my drawings a unique calligraphy. I primarily use materials found in my father’s workshop and my brother’s art studio. These materials include ink, acrylics, oils, crayon, wood stain, shellac, roofing tar, metal scraps, and metal leaf. The work grows by adding to the surface until I find some sort of harmony that is more than just the sum of my movements.
Artist Statement
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t involved in creating art. Being the youngest in a creative family, I was always surrounded by the production of art and other projects. It seems natural to me to create for the sake of creating. The work I make is a direct reflection of my physical limitations caused by my spastic cerebral palsy. Although my paintings are flat objects, the subject is very much the technical narrative of creating with a handicap. In this way each painting becomes a totem of my own cerebral palsy.