The point of view of landscape is no longer still, is instead a matter of practice and transformation. 

-- Susan Stewart, On Longing

My paintings explore the concepts of home, travel, migration and movement. Each is part of a larger theme of dislocation. The work is not about place in general, but rather of being out of  place, which includes nostalgia, longing and looking into the past. At the same time, exploring memory and time, both intimately tied to place, only seems sensible if a larger purpose emerges. Looking at the past should be used to create the present.  

Scale plays an important role in allowing the paintings to become a place themselves and to reference space in general. I am interested in pushing more into a three-dimensional realm with my work. Landscape, place and space themselves can be consuming and overwhelming. It seems fitting that a larger presence for painting can better describe the more chaotic reality of an environment.

The internet allows inspection of my hometown from a distance. For source material, I use Google Maps to find the places where I used to go and combine the images with my personal photographs and memories. By using multiple images of a setting, I create a new interior, reimaging the space in a new light. Then, I define the color palette of a place to pin down its emotional effect. 

I also incorporate text into my work, digging through my old journals and finding entries that mention place. In the past, I made a practice of stream of conscious writing, meant to make sense of my thoughts and emotions. This brain drain exercise is designed to plumb the subconscious forces behind actions and to reach clearer conclusions. 

Once I select a passage, I begin copying it repetitively onto a large canvas through various means, including tinted gesso, charcoal and paint. The process becomes an automatic drawing, like the Surrealists employed to tap into the subconscious. By reproducing the text over and over again, mark-making begins to take precedence over the words. The meaning of the journal entry is second now to rhythm, repetition and line. I also allow the lines and shapes of the letters to take over, allowing for a new space to form. 

My paintings are large. Physical interaction with the gestures is important, similar to an action painting. I turn what was intimate, like a journal entry or my own personal memories, into something public. By obscuring and altering visual elements and text, I can transform and transcend the past and give it a new form in the present.