The Corn Palace is blue, or, Interiors I know

Abstract

The primary abstract component in my paintings and pastels is the intensity of color that is provided by my responses to light. The hues and geometric shapes of light and architecture subdue the illusion of three dimensional space: distant light - walls and ceilings - advance, while foreground - floors and furniture - recede. I design these architectural elements and paint them in colors that will facilitate a coexistent duality of flatness and perspective depth. To achieve harmony in this contrast of illusion, I use both simple and complex processes. By sketching, drafting, and xeroxing, I investigate light and value, composition and color. The results of these explorations are skeletons for my paintings and pastels. I then translate these preliminary ideas into more complete pieces by using first opaque and then transparent layers of paint or pastel to achieve intense, but balanced color effects. The spaces I portray are de-humanized even in my initial sketchings. Occupants in these public spaces have no importance to me. In this respect, I am a minimalist. My work manifests a personal and abstract narrative which consists of color, shape, geometry and design. The human element is, and is provided by, the viewer.