I am a still life painter that utilizes the shallow space of the trompe l’oeil format to arrange objects in a simple and iconic composition on the vertical plane. These compositions are made increasingly intricate with multiple light sources. By placing an anchor in the center as the focal point, it largely becomes a placeholder to create shadows and integrate form, color, and light into a pictorial experience. The central object often has a complex surface with strange optical qualities. Cut paper shapes are used as a composition device to throw shadows across the picture plane, creating shapes of shadow which I treat as objects. My use of paper, foam board, and similar material references the many types of parchment used as subject matter in traditional Renaissance and Baroque trompe l’oeil paintings. I wish to create a tension between the trompe l’oeil style of painting and the surface-less subject matter that is light and shadow. The simplified geometric forms and vibrant palette also relates to geometric abstraction and op art.
I edit errors from the still life to create a more uniform and symmetrical image. Careful attention is given to the intersections between shadows and the tangents they create with the object(s), as they are often used to frame the focal point. My set ups incorporate at least two different light sources, each casting a different hue and temperature of light. To help expand the possibilities of my light installations, I look to artists such as Chris Fraser and James Turrell. I seek to present an ambiguous final image that preserves the luminosity of the source material, while evoking a sense of mystery and confusion. I work from life with a high level of rendering to solidify the truth that these situations existed. I suspend the object(s) with a sense of weightlessness and ambiguity; in tandem with the use of colored lights, this creates a divide from reality and approaches the bizarre.