ink Landscapes

My abstract landscape paintings evolved as an experiment to incorporate the unpredictable quality of ink painting and the precise and deliberate accuracy achieved from drawing.  I was accustomed to using charcoal and graphite, where I felt completely in control of every manipulation. Ink painting forced me to interact with the canvas in an entirely new way.  

With no eraser, no smudging or undoing, I had to be mindful of the motion of my arm, the mixture of ink and water, and the finality of each brush stroke. The process allowed me first to move freely in unplanned and unrestrained ways and watch the ink create something unforeseen, and then pay attention to particularities- folds and creases, textures, colors and lines.  I started to collage the things I encountered in everyday life - plastic grocery bags, articles from the daily newspaper, receipts, old bills, leaves, notes scribbled on scrap paper – and allowed these materials to form a part of the landscapes.

My paintings do not represent a real or physical place, but rather the essence of a place captured through a combination of the spontaneity of the ink mixing with water on paper and the intricate details of drawing. I’m drawn to the spontaneous nature of ink painting – the chaos and bursts of life we cannot control – alongside the detailed precision of pen work – the deliberate accuracy in which we attempt to navigate the situations we understand. Each painting has many layers of paper, ink, paint, and other variants that come together to form a complex and connected place that serve as a metaphor for the complex layers present in every moment and every state of mind. My paintings offer a lesson in perspective – that one may observe the overall landscape, and move inward to notice intricacies and details potentially overlooked on first glance. In our own lives and in others, we are reminded to attend to the intimacy of moments, portents of small actions, and the beauty of details that, moving too fast, may be entirely missed.