I look to the interplay of word and image in the works of Rene Magritte and Jasper Johns, the visual vocabulary of Robert Rauschenberg and Anselm Kiefer, and the color theory of Josef Albers and Mark Rothko. Besides these specific artists, I gather inspiration from the collective thought of the Swiss School and Bauhaus. The simplified elegance of their compositions transpires my formal approach to design while informing my artistic intuition.
“Beneath theory and rhetoric, and well beyond technique and jargon, the reason for design is to speak to people in a language that is familiar, but also new — to entice people to understand an old thing in a new way, or grasp a new thing in an old way.”
Saul Bass
In all of my work, I try to complete this statement by presenting the mundane in a new light; to experience an everyday known in a different way. Words and language are always my initial impetus. I look for dualities and dichotomies. I take a concept and flip it on its head; I find things so similar yet different. I question the essential understanding of an idea to discover a familiar language.
From there my process consistently involves a sense of color; a mood. Expression of this element brings layers of meaning. It adds a sense of time and place. Materiality is another key element to my methodology. A presence of the hand, and an interplay of surfaces is reoccurring in my personal work. An attention to the details of subtle relationships, color, and tactility has grown from my passion of design, printed matter, and diversity of culture.
