Your work is quite painterly. Does your painting process involve layers of paint and glazing?
No, mainly it is a process of thought akin to “ start with the finish “ . I attempt to start each brush stroke as the finish. It is an economy of brushstrokes but it also has the added benefit of keeping the mystery alive, of not covering up the whole painting with half made marks, half decisions that start to hinder the original vision. The process of start with the finish allows me to help the problem of ‘overworking’. This does not mean I succeed all the time, but it is what I intend thru the works.
Can’t help but notice the businessman theme in your latest showing… This and your color palette evokes the covers of detective-themed pulp novels of the 1950s…
This is from my series of Nomads, it’s a figure of duality, embodying both the everyday and the mysterious. He is at once an everyman and a symbol, perhaps a detective of his own soul, navigating the noirish landscape of existence. Noir, yes noir I think of this word quite a lot.
Is the businessman featured in your paintings being stalked by his own mortality?
They have become known to me as my “nomads” – the dark traveler, I have created a book called Nomads as well. “a stranger comes to town” type themes. but honestly also just the darkness, regrets, fears and all the other garbage that we carry around. Hence the luggage. again suggesting dark narratives. Its probably my own darkness that I carry around which is why the male is painted more than the female. Indeed, the specter of mortality looms large over him. He is a man pursued not by a tangible foe, but by the inevitable decay of time. Thoughts, memories, mysteries. In this sense, he is every one of us, haunted by the passage of time and the unanswerable questions that lie at the end of our journey. I try.
Are blue flames hotter than red flames?
Yes, blue flames burn hotter than red ones, a fact that holds a certain visual poetry for me. Blue, often associated with coldness and calm, hides an intensity that is fierce and consuming. It’s a reminder that appearances can be deceiving, and that what burns hottest may not always be what appears most fiery to the eyes…the what burns twice as bright and all that.
He is every one of us, haunted by the passage of time and the unanswerable questions that lie at the end of our journey…
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