I am interested in approaching visual puzzles that wrestle with awkward or uncomfortable contradictions.
In my art studio I've been exploring ways to create shrines and altars to unlikely things which allow me to explore and evolve meaning, mystery and create new fetish systems of belief.
In each work I begin with a patchwork of elements which may include photographs, fabric, toile, embroidery, twine, clay, etc. Over this patchwork of constructed heirlooms are layered images derived from drawings of anonymous figures that carry their own history. The surface and images layer and build a new narrative construction from the juxtaposition and history of the elements. Through this process I attempt to tap into cultural remnants of heritage while simultaneously exploring new narratives in a contemporary context to combine in an unhinged narrative.
The core of my artistic practice is an engagement with and challenge to hierarchies and values. Redefining the consequence of ritual through art in a post-everything era; I would describe my art work as a revisionist pilgrimage of sorts. These queer things don't yield easily to comprehension and happily they offer an opening into the fleeting mystery of an unfinished story.
Born United States
1978 Early art education began in an apprenticeship in a production pottery from the age of ten to the age of eighteen.
1979 The Joseph Beuys retrospective at the Guggenheim made a lasting impact on me and added fuel to my interest in ritual meaning in art and life.
1987 Studied sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art with Doug Baldwin and Ron Lang.
1990 Studied ceramic sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland with Dave Cohen.
1991 Met artist Ken Tisa who convinced me to move to New York City. Same year I created a sculpture installation sponsored by ACTUP which was censored and later reinstalled in Baltimore, Maryland's SOWEBO arts festival.
1992 Moved to New York City and attended graduate school at the School of Visual Arts working with Loren Madsen, Lucio Pozzi, Gregory Amenoff, Gary Stephan, Tommy Lanigan Schmidt, et al.
1994 First group exhibition in New York curator Gregory Amenoff
2000 First one person exhibition in New York at Halcyon.
2003 Started writing art criticism for the Gay City News.
2006 My work was in an exhibition at the Paul Sharpe Gallery, New York.
Today I teach as an adjunct member of the faculty at Parsons School of Design and have been a visiting artist at the Cooper Union summer arts program. I regularly contribute art criticism to the NY weekly paper "The Gay City News". I am active in the art and technology community working with artists, exhibiting with museums and galleries and speaking at conferences such as the Living Surfaces Conference at the American Center for Design. And have also participated on the board of directors for the Foucault Society. I have collaborated with a variety of artists including Frank Moore, Christine Hill, Cornelia Parker, Juana Valdes and Frank Holliday. I also work with the interactive design studio R/GA as an Associate Creative Director.
Live and work in Brooklyn, New York.
For more information see my art work, resume and exhibition list