Figurative Paintings
Working with the human figure was my intro in the Fine Arts. Not having explored the arts until my college years, I was taken under the wing of John Nava and offered a scholarship in the Fine Arts Department at University of Redlands, to support what he saw as talent. His incredible skills in drawing and painting the human form became my model of what it meant to be an artist. From that point on I have immersed myself in exploring many avenues of the arts, finding my own relationship to them. One thing that has remained consistent in this exploration is the Human Body.
The Human Body, that thing that carries us through life, is a very powerful entity. Thanks to evolution, each part of the body has an incredibly long history, recorded in its form. In its nuances deep meaning and beauty resides. Lay on top of that our complex human psyche and all those attachments, the body carries quite the wallop. Maybe this is why we just can’t get away from the human body in the arts, even after the many years of abstraction, minimalism, and conceptual art.
During my own years of conceptual/abstract art making, frosting and sugar became my medium. Once again, the body, with all its phycology of Desire, became my focus. The art pieces were cover with that which goes right to the core of our bodies needs, the sweetness of life, something our senses naturally gravitated towards like bees to nectar.
I guess it didn’t surprise me, when I took a hiatus from the art world, after a death of a friend, I found myself drawn to body work/healing arts as a massage therapist. I would often say, I guess I’ve come back to my roots of painting, working with my hands in oils on the body. Pure and simple.
Gallery
