I have created memory boats to be imaginary vehicles of transformation. They are meant to be symbolic vessels, visually carrying marks and memories of our culture through time. And, as the watermarks on the side of a boat, the medium of culture in which we live also makes marks on individual travelers as they journey through life. This sea of culture sets an historical, transcendent stage from which to understand the nature of life's often tortuous adventure; in this regard the sea is portrayed in both its material (as painted imagery) and immaterial (floating through time) essence, affording both an adventure of the sea of life and of the soul. Simply put, the boat is a metaphor and culture the medium through which it travels. The traveler of life can simply 'be along for the ride', or the traveler can determine the course and direction, the 'fate', of the journey.

Painted Imagery:     The boat is painted in oils on cotton canvas stretched over a wood frame. To convey the transparent, overlapping nature of the imaginal realm, I paint in superimposed layers that can float independently, or meld together with the other layers to create unexpected forms. These painted forms and qualities are derived from the unconscious lens; dreams, the unexpected, and the transformational. Because they arise from such uncharted territories, they may raise questions of origin, cultural expectation, authority, power, and balance.

Shadow Elements:   The juxtaposition of the whimsical painted elements to the shadow reflections creates a startling quality that also exists in the reality of daily life. The purpose of this is to allow the works to remain as events, rather than being reducible to objects with particular meanings. As in dreams, there are no answers in these paintings, only relationships, suggestions of what has been, and what might be.