Art for me is a reaction to the accumulation of experiences. It is a visual language of how I communicate and make sense of the world around me. It is formatted to record narratives of the human experience of life. My work investigates these narratives by focusing on dichotomies. The division into two groups is essential to my work, and it is done with a conscious deliberation dividing the narrative into at least two sides of the story. For I see the dichotomy as coexisting, one dependent upon the other, and both essential for the success of the narrative. For how could one ever really know hope without despair, or tell a story of the nauseating sickness of losing love without first describing what it was like to have tasted it? Even though the two divisions coexist within the narrative, there are still clear differences between them. For these reasons, I offset both divisions in my work. It is a balancing act, however, since they are co dependent. One division cannot overpower the other, otherwise, the narrative becomes weighted and preaches. I tend to view my art as a paved road, where the pavement is the art, the white lines are the dichotomy, equally framing the narrative, which of course is the center yellow lines. In my art the road is clearly defined, but the choice on which half of the road to travel still lies with the viewer. My art exists always in the present, while recalling the past, and looking toward the future. It is a metaphor in which a story is told, where the "like" or "as" is the cultivation of understanding.
