Working on paper felt less precious to me and encouraged spontaneity and invention.
I found that I tensed up when I worked in oil and canvas. Everything felt important. The materials were expensive and didn’t lend themselves to experimentation as easily.
Working on paper was a way to combat that. I applied for and was awarded a Dartmouth Fellowship grant to support a year of intense work. With the money I bought a cache of large sheets of quality paper and got more experimental.
Life Drawing
I have a fairly unique life drawing style. It’s very frenetic and energetic. I attack the substrate with a variety of tools ranging from charcoal and pencil to erasers and white acrylic paint.
Woodblock Art
Woodblocks were a means for me to work out some of the conceptual ideas I was having in plastic form. Cutting woodblock icons of the art, literature and ideas I was having let me combine them in all sorts of interesting ways. I amassed a library of these images that allowed me to play out visual ideas spontaneously.
Computer Interface Woodblocks
While I was painting I began earning a living through computer-based graphic design. Rather than focusing on esoteric ideas from art and literature I began to become fascinated by the computer interface itself and the relationship between virtual and real. I cut to-scale woodblocks of the computer interface that enabled me to explore the gestures of computer interaction in a physical realm.
Game Inspired Pieces
I got into making video-game inspired pieces by way of my woodblock art. Once I had built a library of computer tools and icons I moved onto games. I began exploring the visual language of games.
Later in my design career I became art director of SegaSoft, a spinoff of the famous gaming company.
