Born: 1965
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Based in: New York
I was born in Toronto, Canada and completed my undergraduate degree in studio art and philosophy at the University of Guelph, Canada. I immigrated to the United States to complete a Masters of Fine Art at Florida State University in 1993. After completing an award from FSU as a painting instructor with a studio residency in Florence, Italy I moved to New York City in 1995 to engage with the international art community. I decided to stay as I became active as a working and exhibiting painter involved with the exciting Brooklyn artistic community. Working as a studio assistant to Fluxus artist Nam June Paik I received a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council grant in 1999 and the Pollock Krasner Grant in 2003. This was followed by my solo shows at The Cue Art Foundation, Heidi Cho Gallery, Lesley Heller Projects, and Robert Henry Contemporary among others. Recently my work has appeared on the cover of the poetry journal Crazy Horse, in the sitcom Law and Order SVU, and at Wave Hill in the Bronx for my solo show "100 Words". My studio is currently in the South Bronx and my work is currently represented by David Richard Gallery in New York where I exhibited a 16 year retrospective in 2020.
What inspires you?
Contemporary Painting , Urban architecture, Painted city walls, 1970's comic book art, Manga and music.
Describe your creative process.
In my drawing and painting images all come from both photographs I take of the city with my phone and then small ink drawings done in the studio. The work becomes a slow consideration of different possibilities in color and line of weeks or even years for each piece.
What are 3 words that best describe your work?
Fragments, urban pattern, organic
Who are some artists that have influenced your work?
Giovanni Battista Piranesi , Jack Whitten, Myron Stout, Mary Heilmann, Tsutomu Nihei and James Baldwin
What is the most important tool when creating your work?
Hi quality paper
What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
Go to New York
Where do you go for inspiration?
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Awards
Florence Study Award - Florida State University
1995
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
2003
Awards
Florence Study Award - Florida State University
1995
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
2003