Fine Art || Wood Panels || Collage || About the Artist
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Working in architecture for over a decade, my practice of mapping multiple conditions of places have challenged me to focus on how we live and how, as responsible creators, we can strive to improve life for the next generations. Inspired by the Japanese haikus that have the ability to convey complex human experiences concisely in both the material and spiritual realms, my art and architecture are meant to raise awareness for human relationships to our built environment.
Designed as “visual haikus,” both my art and architecture are meant to bring the onlooker/user’s subjective experiences to the poetic physical and emotional spirit of a place made up of layers of histories, cultures, beliefs, and hopes. Each piece strives to transform rich complexities into modern simplicity, transcending realities to progress the evolution of the human spirit.
The layering and carving techniques of both photo collage and mixed media paintings on wood have allowed me to transform these multiplicities to create each “visual haiku,” mapping the emotional as well as the physical. Photo collages have the ability to use surrealism to juxtaposing imagery collapsing past, present, and future, as well as bring together visions of near and far. Each photo collage pieces creates a new space from existing spaces that can bring new insights to the present moment. Painting on wood panels allows me to mix my interest in materials and construction with the practice of architectural representation such as perspective drawings and model building. Using wood allows me to bring in tactile sensibilities that make up built forms. Both techniques allow me to explore blurring the two-dimensional and three-dimensional realms in very different ways.
By juxtaposing and blending the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly of a place, a part of its essence is revealed to embody the simplicity of hope and potential. Through sharing these experiences, I also challenge the prejudices found within each of us as we visit the new, or reveal from once familiar, a new perspective that may elevate the human condition. The “visual haiku” goes beyond the visible to the spiritual resonance that exists, allowing us to confront ourselves; both striving to see the differences and revealing its beauty.
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