These small works, created in a limited palette, are an offering to the gods--paintings that presume to offer a hint of mystery, beauty and grace to the world in this new American Age.

In this ongoing series I am creating abstract compositions that are critically analyzing the social and political aspect of this urban phenomenon. I aim to foster dialogue and reflection about what happens, economically and politically, when a neighborhood undergoes a fast changing cultural landscape. I often visit gentrifying neighborhoods and each time I am witness to the bracing pace of change. The narrative about gentrification is racial, political, cultural, economical and, above all, emotional for both the low-income and the mostly people of color who are being driven out of homes they have occupied for decades, and the gentrifiers who feel squeezed out of the established neighborhoods of their choice and are obliged to seek alternative housing in outlying neighborhoods. While these two groups who live side-by side are confronted by their economic realities, they are both unwilling victims of economic forces beyond their control. It is this forced dynamism that I want the series to evoke; I hope to engage both the heart and the mind of the viewer.

I use discarded materials, found objects and take photographs in my weekly jaunts through these neighborhoods to document and record these transitions in the paintings. I choose to name each painting for the idea that it represents.

I am forever pursuing the idea of abandonment in my art. I am looking for voluptuousness in a small square. I find organic shapes intriguing.  Having the shape occupy most of the surface gives it a proportional anomaly. A one-shaped thing that’s graphically interesting, while using color to reach potency. Paradoxically working within a square foot allows for greater exploration. The shape conveys more meaning because of its defining square.  I am seeking for the shape and the square each to hold their authority - yet achieve an harmonious whole.  

I am exploring a series based on the 2010 Haitian earthquake titled Goudougoudou, the Haitian naming for the devastating earthquake that has left the country in utmost disarray—still.  In January 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 decimating Haiti, leaving hundreds of thousand dead and injured. Visiting Haiti to bear witness to the distruction of my country, I was rendered speechless. I found that I needed canvas, paint, brushes, fingers, and torn up letters to create a language that captured the immensity of the loss I had experienced and my empathy for the countless individuals affected by this mass tragedy. So far I’ve made four paintings and several studies for the remainder of the series and am excited at the possibility of exploring and creating them in larger formats.