Statement

While growing up my favorite reading material was science fiction. I preferred the genre of so-called “hard” science fiction which leans more toward the technical details and is often based on actual scientific knowledge which may appear outlandish. I have continued this fascination by reading lay materials explaining modern scientific understanding of topics such as Quantum Mechanics, Chaos Theory and more. I have come to an understanding of the nature of reality as an infinite field of infinite possibilities.
My academic background in psychology with a specialization in the study of altered states of consciousness has conceptually prepared me to express paintings that show selected parts of an imaginary map of an infinite chaos. Many cultures around the world pass on their knowledge of the nature of reality through their art. Examples include Huichol yarn paintings, Tibetan sand mandalas, and the like. Religious architecture tends to express esoteric symbolic systems. The symbolic interpretation of cathedral design is well known. The great pyramids of Gaza have inspired many different interpretations and, no doubt, had special significance to their designers and builders. It felt important to me that modern physics should have its artistic representation as well.
Starting with the presumption that the universe is both infinite and random, I imagine a map of all the permutations of an infinite chaotic, random universe. This map appears orderly when viewed in limited cross sections. Stable systems within this infinite chaos have greater persistence than others due their higher levels of entropy. The natural universe we observe is but one of many stable configurations out of an infinite but random set of possible configurations.
All my paintings begin with an imaginary “ideal form.” The representations of those forms on canvas display varying degrees of separation from the ideal. At the extreme range of this separation, the ideal form would be indistinguishable from pure chaos. Somewhere in between is the natural world. Subtle variations in color, texture and line edges are manifestations of the chaotic element and represent stages in the breakdown from perfect, stable designs through the release of entropy. These paintings could represent naturally occurring objects with orderly, repeated structures. Common examples of this type of object would be crystalline forms, honeycombs and nautilus shells.
As a group, these paintings highlight the tension between ideal form and natural systems. As the paintings become more complex, different patterns emerge allowing the expression of both ideal form and natural systems.