Artist Statement

The source of all things. The beginning of life. The primal mark.

My work reflects an investigation into archetypal symbols found in nature and inscribed on ancient stones.
I draw from this universal visual language, returning again and again to some of nature's purest forms,
such as the spiral, the circle, and the crescent, whose cyclical shapes suggest renewal and regeneration,
birth and the cycle of life.

Whether creating a painting or print, I choose earth tones -- ochres, siennas and umbers, the colors of antiquity.
The surfaces, built with subtle layers of color and texture and accented by bold marks, seem to reach back in
time to early mark-making. In my sculpture, I incorporate the same archetypal symbols with motifs such as
running spirals and concentric circles found in sacred geometry. Whether rusted steel or earth-colored concrete,
these works are meant to inspire and to connect the viewer with the spirit of nature.

My inspiration comes from symbols found on pottery shards, ancient stones, and cave walls throughout the
world. These inscriptions, some dating to the Neolithic era, hold mysteries of ancient cultures. My pilgrimages
to sacred sites such as Newgrange in Ireland, The Temple of Knossos in Crete, Delphi, and the caves in the
south of France have been rich with new insight and material. At each of these sites, there is evidence that Gaia,
mother earth, was revered, and I am drawn to the feminine forms that are prevalent. My work is accessed not
through the intellect, but rather the heart or subconscious mind, what Carl Jung referred to as the collective
unconscious. As I work the surface of the plate or canvas and access this ancient iconography, I feel an affinity
with those who have come before me.