Bio and Artist Statement

I have been an art educator for over two decades and have taught at several institutions in the Midwest and Southeast. Currently, I am a Professor of Foundation Studies at Savannah College of Art and Design. I hold a BFA from Valdosta State University and an MFA from the University of Florida. My works have been exhibited and critically received in museums and galleries throughout the United States and internationally. In my work, I am exploring my art-making impulse through digital and analog mediums. My work stems from my response to found objects, images, photographs, and materials I discover or collect. These artifacts from life are altered, manipulated, or detached from their natural context and set into combinations that create coincidental, accidental, and unexpected connections that create meaning. My work has been exhibited at “3rd International Exhibition on Abstract Art” at Czong Institute for Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea; “Detroit Biennale” at the Museum of New Art;  “The Gun Show” at Art Amos Eno Gallery in Brooklyn, NY; “From Nature” at The Illinois Institute of Art Chicago - 180 Gallery Chicago, IL;  Art St. Louis XXII at Art St. Louis Gallery. I have also presented my pedagogical research at SECAC and Foundations in Art: Theory and Education (FATE) conferences: “WALK A LINE OUTSIDE THE STUDIO: How Drawing Can Foster Cognitive Thinking in Art and Other Disciplines”; “Artist as Teacher and Model:  Transdisciplinary Research in Art Foundations”; and “Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: How to Take the Fear And Loathing Out of the Required Art Class.” This research has also led me to accept the position of Vice President of Education of Integrative Teaching International (ITI).

Photography

In my photographic work, I am exploring that moment between seeing and comprehending. I want to captivate the viewer with something that may not be understandable or recognizable at first glance but will absorb the viewer’s attention and keep it. The selection of a subject is based on its potential to create an image that possesses visual complexity. Primarily, I focus on subjects that offer some form of complex pattern or design. By photographing them, I am highlighting and isolating ignored or overlooked subjects of our modern world. I manipulate them by means of close cropping, dramatic or oblique perspectives, and a harsh contrast between figure and ground.. These photographs are exclusively made with a mobile camera and the apps and filters available to it. The availability and immediacy of the device also add to the aesthetic of the final work. The overall effect of this technique renders an image that is abstract, yet grounded in reality. Turning the ordinary into the strange or ambiguous; turning the familiar into the unfamiliar.

Digital Art Collage
In my digital collage artwork, I am exploring the potential of new digital technologies that allow me to explore art-making further into a virtual space that couples the look of traditional mediums with digital photography. The works are formed from a collage of images, photographs, marks, and drawings. I use a variety of techniques, including blending, cutting, layering, and juxtaposing images to create a sense of depth and conceptual complexity.