Artist Statement  

I am a visual storyteller, drawn to stories and places that resonate with social conscience and
responsible practice. Each of us is the product of our heritage and our surroundings, of our
history and our emotions. Artists are the mirrors of those experiences. We serve as observers,
viewers, editors, and translators of complex social issues.

In my work, the past informs the present. I think of my work as a series of laments, in search of
the epiphanies that emerge from the reconsideration of loss. A major source of inspiration has
been a study of storyboarded images within existent Byzantine frescoes and mosaics. What lies
beneath the surface of a simple retelling of details or events?

My work is not linear. It is involved with the development of visual metaphors that are
sometimes reasoned and sometimes intuited: parts that stand in for the whole, associations that
can resonate and become something else than is depicted. I search for resonant fragments which
when woven together might create compelling narratives. All have been profoundly affected by
the visual theatre of history.

The form my work takes is a response to the content of the idea. This ranges from small
drawings to books to large-scale temporary installations (that are like small theatre sets in which
a viewer can become involved). These larger frameworks are usually temporary; the diverse
components are like the key on a map, guiding the exploration of a territory.

Digital technology has been an important tool for me to synthesize the drawings, paintings,
photographs, video clips, and descriptive notes.

Sometimes I have collaborated with other individuals. The results have stretched me and allowed
me to work with approaches or materials with which I have not yet before worked.

When I work on a project, my approach is to immerse myself completely in the topic. I try to
read everything I can find. I research historical imagery and physical artifacts. Over the past
years, among the larger topics on which I have worked are " salt: an essential staple", "evidence:
a lament", "a traveler's readings", "an allegory of olives", "migrations", and "secrets and
tangles: a mourning elegy".

The challenge is to bring all the parts together in an unconventional tapestry that both responds
to the needs of the community that is the source of the work and actively engages viewers to
recognize the value of visual knowledge. History and origins belong to a series of arbitrary
events. But our choice of visual language is not arbitrary.

I believe that art can be a regenerative force that enlarges perspectives and examines common
themes, both ordinary and mythic. Art can provide expanded metaphors for survival enriching
our common bonds and respecting our differences. Diverse cultural identities are not always
harmonious. Blending them is arduous if not impossible but art can assist in replacing fear and
resentment with respect and collaboration; alienation and hatred with friendship or neutrality-
so that we are not hostage to the destructive aspects of the memory of past history.