statement

Throughout this recent series, I have explored the essence of the drawn mark as a parallel for the most basic of thought processes, the firing of synapses. A drawn line forms a connection between two points, just as our thoughts are the paths between a set of neurons. The more those specific pathways are repeated, the more significant they become to the essence of our individual being. I am interested in the simultaneous simplicity of those biological occurrences and the complexity of the abstract and endlessly varied outcomes of those interactions. In the creation of these pieces I work spontaneously, creating one mark after another, developing an increasingly complex web of systems in the process. Each mark is affected by multiple, interlocking systems and forces that grow out of the ongoing, subconscious process of markmaking.

Currently, I am creating drawings in collaboration with a plotting cutter. Similar to the electrical stimuli of the brain, the plotter is driven by electrical pulses in response to data input. The machine interprets my images – the sources of which are primarily taken from my drawings, prints and collages – with its own language. I respond to those marks with additional hand drawing, often while the machine is in motion. These two, vastly different electrical systems contribute to new visual assimilations in a hybrid of digital and analog outputs.

bio

born: Iowa

education

University of South Dakota, MFA Printmaking, 1997
University of Northern Iowa, BFA Printmaking, 1993

selected awards/honors

Zemel Prize for Printmaking, 87th Annual International Competition, The Print Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Recognition Award & the SFCA Purchase Award
Grand Prize, American Impressions, Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts, Wayne, New Jersey

selected publications

7th International Triennial of Graphic Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria
2013 Guanlan International Print Biennial; Original Printmaking Base, Guanlan, China
Survey of Contemporary Printmaking; Egan, Ehlbeck and Muise, eds.: Lazymuse Productions

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Schnormeier Gallery, MVNU Buchwald Center, Eber, Hackenmiller & Jane, Mount Vernon, Ohio
Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts, Liminal Spaces, Wayne, New Jersey
Fannie Garver Gallery, Liminal Transitions, Madison, Wisconsin
Paper Circle, Synaptic Experiments, Nelsonville, Ohio

selected group shows

9th Biennale Internationale d'Estampe Contemporaine de Trois Rivieres, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada, 2015
Big Medium Gallery, The Contemporary Print, Austin, Texas, 2015
Dishman Art Museum, Mark(ing) Time: Expanded Notions of Drawing, Beaumont, Texas, 2014
Lingshi 2nd International Print Biennial, Linghi, Shanxi Province, China, 2014