My paintings are works of fiction based on countless fragments of truth that I have experienced in my life. My landscape paintings are mosaics of the Northern California environment I live in, and of which I dream. The two idioms of fictional figures and dreamscapes are interchangeable for me. Thus a landscape is both a memory and a fact. The figures are depicted in the midst of dramas and dances which also have overlays of fictional, theatrical qualities in which few details are explicit.

I am interested in non-literal realizations that expect the viewer to bring their own narrative and myth into the viewing experience. As a committed and passionate colorist, I am exploring the interplay of hues and contrasts with the rhythms and sense of motion that they evoke in juxtaposition to one another. This creates truth overlapping fiction, overlapping transparency, overlapping symbol and narrative. The landscape and the human figure provide punctuation for my visual dramas.

I believe that no one artist has or can paint the truth. The work of all artists is necessary to describe the human experience, condition and dilemma. Each work adds a piece to the whole.

Some of my paintings are titled “Sacred Heart” because my Zen teacher once asked me how I could manifest in the world the dharma teachings and meditation skills I had been learning. As an artist, I quickly replied that I would paint ten thousand hearts! In Asian tradition, ten thousand is a synonym for an indefinitely large number. In Christianity the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a symbol of God’s boundless and passionate love for humankind. My paintings seldom represent a literal heart, but represent the light, truth, love and wisdom that emanates from the heart.