about

The Christ figure in Cimabue’s flood-damaged Santa Croce crucifix, scarred and disjointed from its subject, appeared to me both actually and metaphorically as hovering between image and form. This fresh way of seeing the crucifixion interchangeably allowed for the object to become body and body to become object. These paintings, which suspend the structure from the wall, similarly liberate the relationship between the object and the picture. The result is to me a close approximation of the reinvented Cimabue. The lifeblood of the painting, the emotive qualities of the image, is contrasted with the physical body to reveal and activate both visage and carriage. These paintings are realized on plastic sheeting and arranged, transferred and often overlaid onto the canvas long after the images have been realized. Using extended and haphazardly constructed brushes, the process releases the picture from preconception. The melancholic impact of religious icon paintings heavily encourage decisions within the work such as palette, visual speed and overall form. The process is open ended and unprecise yet urges closure.