was looking at Leonardo da Vinci’s studies of flowing water and thinking they could be a diagram of the way my work has been developing. The swirls and eddies indicate movement and displacement, yet the topographic terrain remains fluidly consistent. My work tends to build on themes, development a result of contemplation. Surface changes tend to happen fluidly, organically and not so radically. Themes and subjects float to the surface only to be pushed under, then re-emerge. Meanwhile an undercurrent located in content maintains its hold as a driving force.

There is a visual phenomenon, almost moire in effect, that makes a surface appear to vibrate. This presents our eyes with an optical conundrum (an example can occur when juxtaposing complimentary colors). This is a space with an almost physical presence, inducing a physiological response rather than an illusionistic one. Metaphorically it seems an apt background for the contemporary human condition.

Perhaps an obvious reference for these backgrounds is psychedelic graphics and art, as the plastic strategies that inform them come from a sense of dissonance and optical illusion.

A related approach can also be found in Thangka paintings of Himalayan Buddhists. In these the illusory backgrounds seem to offer supporting evidence to the spirituality of its subject. These associations overlap in the plastic attempt to "trigger" an experience more ethereal than logical.

Included here are a dozen examples of recent work. The strategies of expression ofttimes are intentionally and resolutely dumb. My process indulges meandering, an openness to exploring impulses. Ultimately the paintings come into focus through an intimacy I gain with the subject in the course of these meditations.