My recent paintings are altered translations of photographic imagery culled from various mass media publications collected over the years. Rough and finished drawings are carefully rendered from a chosen photograph. To enhance and clarify an image I often draw from live models and objects as well. If needed, photographs of the same are taken for later reference. Next, slides of the found photographs, drawings, and models are projected onto the studio wall to determine an agreeable scale (usually much larger than life). Finally, a number of canvases are constructed to begin painting variations of a single image. Before finishing the first painting of a series, two or three other variations are started and worked on intermittently. This process seems to help resolve difficult passages and to lengthen the viewing time needed to complete a painting. The content of this exhibition focuses on kitchen activities and culinary objects.

When I work from a black and white photograph, a color or color system needs to be decided upon. This is usually suggested by the content or possibly contradictory choices that redirect the mood of the image. For example, the act of kneading dough would best be done in a bright, fluorescent light. However, when this ritual is painted in deep blue-purple, as if lit by the moon, questions arise. By skewing the original context it allows the viewer to search for an aesthetic value and social relevance beyond the intended communication of the source subject matter. Whatever the altercation, surrealism and sentimentality are not allowed in the house.

Through the reordering of genre scene subject matter, the paintings are presented in a somewhat incongruent manner that is intended to stimulate, assault, amuse, and otherwise pose problems of contemplation.

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