I use the canvas a surface on which to think and play. It is a place where I can build terrains to explore or secluded rooms to occupy and decorate, where I can construct spaces and tear them down and shove things around. Although the images in the paintings are only illusions they trigger real sensations of forces acting upon one another. The pursuit of these illusions is as important to me as the final image. I want the process to remain transparent to allow insight into the making of the painting and remind the viewer they are engaged in a game of pretend.

The settings often begin as recollections of places that were once familiar to me, whether real or fictitious. While painting I am exploring my own memory, summoning details of houses I’ve lived in, furniture I’ve had, or minutiae I’ve observed while walking down the street. I enjoy the freedom a painter has to appropriate images from television, movies, the internet, music, and daily experience and turn them into something new, an artificial remix of his or her world which is nevertheless believable.

My newest paintings are about coming to terms with forces beyond our control. Ordinary experiences such as growing up, moving away from home, and losing loved ones, as well as larger events like climate change, natural disasters, and war give us a sense of the impermanence of the world we live in. This body of work is a reminder that our lives can be interrupted any time without warning.