Slash 3

My work has been an ongoing investigation of landscape. I am drawn to extremes. My recent monotypes, entitled the Slash series, are based on my observations of the remains of trees, either fallen or cut down. These trees are part of the cycle of life and death that I have focused upon in my paintings, prints and drawings. I look at these trunks and branches and observe how they twist about each other in very complicated relationships, moving back and forth, towards the viewer and then underneath into the shadows. For me, it is an intellectual challenge to try to convincingly represent the twisted convolutions of these branches. Although I could have worked directly on paper, I have chosen to make monotypes because I prefer the way that watercolor dries on the surface of the plate in contrast to the way that watercolor or ink sits when applied directly to paper. –Artist statement