I'm obsessed with gathering old, forgotten materials for my work. In flea markets I go straight to paper ephemera and old sepia photos tucked away in shoeboxes. I hold on to shirts that no longer fit me, the ties gone out of style, and cut them up for my compositions. An upholsterer near my house keeps me supplied with discontinued fabric remnants. On my walks with Maggie I'm scouring the ground for anything that catches my eye and might wind up in a painting, a collage, or an assemblage: metal washers, bits of string, scraps of handwritten notes.

My paintings are heavily layered. Early in the process I use inks and dyes to stain unprimed canvas or fabric, then add a range of materials: string, torn clothes, artist papers, sheet music, peppercorns, dried flowers from my garden. I shy away from brushes, preferring the uncertainty and lack of control that comes from dripping ink and squeezed acrylics. I can't get enough of the feel and immediacy of oil sticks, which remind me of the fat crayons I loved as a child.

I'm also a writer of fiction and poetry. My fiction has a fabulist and magical realist bent. Kirkus Reviews called my most recent book, a collection of tales inspired by the art of Caroline Golden, "a brilliantly imagined and transportive collection of surreal bedtime stories." The poetry, like my art, is energized by found materials, particularly snippets of text from oddball sources--manifestoes on personal magnetism, curious medical histories, self-published treatises by spiritual mediums.

Whether inspired from ghostly flea market photos or the kitschy poetics of books by 19th c. clairvoyants, channeling echoes from the past can't help but remind me of the ephemeral nature of our own brief existence. One feels haunted, in other words, while also being a haunt oneself. I find it a bittersweet meditation. This mixture of mourning and wonderment, disquiet and delight, echoes throughout the work.

I double majored in Studio Art and English as an undergraduate in the early 80s (SUNY Geneseo: Bachelor of Arts, 1985, summa cum laude). Flipped a coin and pursued the latter in grad school (University at Albany: Master of Arts, 1988, Doctor of Arts, 1990, with honors), leading to a career as a professor. I later got an MFA through the Transart Institute in Berlin, accredited through Plymouth University, UK. I live on Long Island and teach at St. John's University in New York City.

If interested in discussing a commissioned painting or a series of collages please contact me; I enjoy the process of getting to know a client’s tastes and interests, then integrating those wishes into the kind of work I make.