Plates

Plates are organized in reverse chronological order. For additional insight, please read the artist’s statement.

HUMANSCAPE 2

HUMANSCAPE 2 comprises eleven paintings, each one depicting a monumental portrait of an individual the artist met by chance on the street. Conversations were brief, but each person agreed to being recorded. In a museum or gallery setting, these audio files will accompany the artwork via a QR code.

HUMANSCAPE 2 examines the tension between the city and the people who must endure its challenging environment, especially those individuals most underrepresented in society.

Each panel dimensions: 50 × 50 inches

Media: Oil and ink pens on Stonehenge paper (250 gsm)

Please click a thumbnail below to enlarge the image.

The Process

Scholars encourage museum and gallery visits to observe original artwork firsthand, the way it was intended to be experienced. By treating oil and ink like graphite, the man’s face (below) appears to be a continuous tone image. However, the closeup of his eye at right reveals a painting composed entirely of small black markings. When optically blended, the illusion of this strictly additive process is realized.

HUMANSCAPE 1

HUMANSCAPE 1 imagines the visual experience of the city through the eyes of an individual suffering from clinical depression. The inspiration for this project came from a conversation between the artist and his teenaged son who battled this disease for seven years.

Dimensions: two 4.3 × 29 ft. horizontal scrolls

Media: oil and ink pens on white Rives de Lin paper (350 gsm)

Precipice

This painting was inspired by a photo the artist’s son took of himself just three months before he succumbed to his long battle with depression. Dated June 21, 2014, the file was also the last one on the young man’s camera.

Dimensions: 72 x 108 inches

Media: oil pens on unstretched canvas

Threshold

The concept of impermanence is an essential doctrine of Buddhism. It teaches that all human existence is temporary. An enlightened moment occurred when the artist realized the transitional beauty of his father’s approaching death, an aspect of human existence that is as consequential and meaningful as birth itself.

Dimensions: 36 × 72 inches (triptych)

Media: graphite on 4×6″ paper sample cards

threshold