Artist’s Statement – Silk

My love of color and light and the spontaneity that the silk painting medium provides, gives me the unique opportunity to fully express myself. It persuades my imagination to retrieve new images and transfer them onto the silk surface. The impression left by the resist and the dyes leads me to further invention. The idea that I never know what will be coming next is a powerful incentive to my work.

 I sometimes draw from my life experiences, and memories and work directly onto the silk. At other times I develop a set of imagery and work in watercolor and collage before using dyes. The medium is always playful and unpredictable. 

My basic interest is the rendering of color onto a two dimensional surface and the developing of ideas and imagery which work as an abstraction even though my work is figurative.

 I owe a debt to Henri Matisse, whose paintings I have loved since childhood. Other strong influences include Romare Bearden, Jasper Johns, Elizabeth Murray, Stuart Davis and prehistoric cave paintings.