I lived in Hawaii during my 20's and learned how to build hakahaka walls; free standing dry stack rock walls that hold an ancient symbol of protection and strength (remains of these walls can be dated back to the 12th century). The craft tapped me into something primordial and ancient. It showed me a way of seeing deeply into what I’m making, past the visual and structural and into the spirit of the thing itself. I’m still connected to that experience, and the sense of something untouched vibrating at my core- who I am- my true nature.
In the studio, I have distinct areas for painting and for encaustic, and the resulting works are constantly in dialogue with each other. The larger oil paintings are informed by the shapes and textures that arise in the encaustics. With encaustic, I’m using the wax as a sculptural element, working it by hand and really pushing areas of rough, uneven textures, juxtaposed with a smoother, more traditional encaustic approach. As I’m working fairly small here, these pieces are like subliminal sketches for the larger paintings, arising without conscious orchestration.
I’m drawn to what can’t be said, explained, or described. The universes in my paintings rise from somewhere central and intrinsic. They aren’t created to build narrative or meaning, but to embody essential presence. If I had to offer a word for this unknown, it would be innocence. Innocence asking to be revealed- simple, direct and fundamental.