I have always been powerfully drawn to figurative painting and drawing, particularly portraiture. My body of work includes traditional portraits and figurative oil paintings as well as expressionistic figure drawings using oil sticks, charcoal, wax medium, powdered pigments and collage. Two years ago I created a series of monoprints and etchings of primates. These animals fascinate me because of their uncanny humanness. As I depicted them I was moved and haunted by their similarities to human beings, each one a unique individual.

My work is a vehicle for me to explore both my own subjective unconscious and the “collective unconscious” as defined by Carl Jung. In other words, I feel my work combines my essence with that of a particular human or animal subject and, hopefully, the essence of the human condition itself. At the same time I am exploring the expressive power of color and line. I am often surprised and sometimes disturbed by the images that emerge on canvas or paper.

My best work is accomplished when I can spiritually and psychologically reach an optimal balance between emotion and intellect, control and letting go. I continually strive to push the limits of my expressive abilities.