Painting is the most satisfying way for me to achieve what Hungarian psychologist, Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, calls the psychology of optimal experience, or flow. It is only through the transformative power of the creative process that I can step into the void of memory, where subconscious traumas and wounds inflicted from long ago are excised and split open anew. I work smoothly, without hesitation or doubt, unfettered by the day’s stress and anxieties, unburdened of the psychological pain of the subjects I seek to examine and bring to light. Through the painting portraiture and I can reflect and analyze the psycho-social dynamics and pathology in me and in my community.

My current series utilizes color and line to visually link and intertwine drips of paints to create abstract dimensional landscapes that I build up over the surface of faces as they emerge from the atmosphere of the painting. The bold colors reflect psychological disarray and manifestations of the human experience of trauma as it is warped and shaped through time and memory. In the landscape the figures seek to escape from their physical boundaries as they emerge from their structures. The contrast between agonized representations of the figure with the bold colors creates a deceptive sense of decay and discord with a subtle balance of harmony and hope.