Statement

Environmental issues and philosophical questions about beauty are central to my work. My drawings and book projects focus on the aesthetics of nature, industry and technology and the inherent conflicts of human integration into the natural order. Fascinated by our ability to harness and control natural forces, I am interested in how the engineered environment affects our perception of nature.

Originally trained as a printmaker, my process of drawing has much in common with print media. I think in terms of layers, opacities, transparencies and filters. My marks are tonal and seamless, like the atmosphere or a breath. Values in my drawings are built up slowly by brushing layers of etching ink on top of each other. Some of my drawings contain small units or clusters of marks that are generated by hand-cut stencils. 

My artist’s books function as research projects for my drawings. These works evolve from a need to explore new formats that allow me to speak about the comedy and tragedy of our ability to control the natural world. I use the physical structure and movement of my books to echo ideas about encroachment, fragmentation, suburban sprawl and the loss of undeveloped land.

Change is the constant in the landscape. My work embraces environmental phenomena, whether human induced or naturally occurring. Wilderness is becoming less about natural systems and more about our attempts to organize and control the land for our own benefit. What exists in the medians, boundaries and edges of all we attempt to control is the impetus for my work.