Moving often through out my life, both nationally and internationally, has had a sustaining effect on my work as an artist. The amazingly rich diversity of our collective humanity has directed my painting to investigate the various ways that we view identity, both others and our own. Settling in New York in 2001 I began teaching Drawing and Painting at Parsons School of Design in 2002. I have found it to be the most fulfilling job I could image. Teaching and living in an international city like New York has fulfilled the need to encounter new people and ideas on a regular basis. My work has been exhibited internationally from New York to London to Japan.
My newest series of paintings entitled “Masks” investigates the ideas of portraiture and identity. There is of course a clear and direct metaphor at work in these paintings; we are all wearing a mask of some kind. Be it a smile or a frown we present a mask aiming to communicate (truthfully or not) an idea of ourselves to the world around us. In these paintings I am trying to move past these metaphorical masks, by replacing them with physical ones. I have found that many people who are not avid collectors of masks own at least one or two masks that they have been attracted to on a conscious or subconscious level. They see something of themselves in them. This is the case with all of the sitters for this series of paintings. The personal connection they have to their masks adds a depth and richness to the paintings and assists the viewer to move past the mere representation of the sitter’s likeness and reveals a deeper truth about them.
