Paintings

“Blythe”

During a painting class, a student of mine, was playing with the most incredible, rich color palette.  Putting colors together I never would have imagined, I asked if I might be able to ‘borrow’ her palette for one of my own paintings.  She laughed and said of course. I said I will give you credit… Hence, the name Blythe or Merci Blythe (she speaks French fluently.)

“Ouroboros”

“Ouroboros”

Event Horizon - *Sold*

For this painting, I decided to only paint one color or layer each day over the course of a week.  The title comes from a 90’s Sci Fi Horror movie with the same name. The idea of an event horizon is ‘a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer.’

 

Falling / Floating

These 2 paintings were created for a commission for a residential building on the waterfront in Jersey City.  Eventually large prints were made from the original paintings which were used for the final installation. The idea of Falling and Floating I find extremely intriguing.  Each conjures up specific images to the viewer but they also feel inextricably interconnected. There is an ominous as well as an uplifting feel to each as well. I hope the paintings imply these contrasting feelings to the viewer.

 

Binary

Originally this painting is based on a luxury handbag that a friend posted on her instagram.  The black leather contrasted with the rougher, untreated leather comes together with a thin seam and shining gold buckle.  The larger idea is that of binary or two things that seem opposed to one another. Where is the transition and is that middle ground what is truly important?  Worthy of recognition and not resignment.

Meirlin

Meirlin

No Fan In Tub

In an old James Bond movie, (which I find rich with color ideas), Bond tosses an electric fan into the tub of an enemy.  The water lights up a bright orange red, frying his victim when in Bond fashion he exits muttering, shocking, just shocking.  I have been torn lately revisiting old Bond movies for color inspiration while simultaneously disturbed by its lessons of men and women, power, privilege and more.

View

Is one of the first paintings I did on reflective neoprene.  The idea of View is as much about perspective as it is about panoramic discovery.  It is also quite practical in the sense that even a subtle change of viewpoint or light can change the whole ways the piece, color, textures are perceived.

Navigation

Many of my paintings reference the colors and palettes used on the original Star Trek TV series.  The extreme color relationships and ‘out of this world’ combinations are truly riveting. In this particular episode, the crew perpetually struggles with the on board navigation of the Enterprise and the colors reference not only space but the shifting colors and light as the ship struggles to stay on course and maintain control.

Broken Override

Many of my paintings reference the colors and palettes used on the original Star Trek TV series.  The extreme color relationships and ‘out of this world’ combinations are truly riveting. In this particular episode, the captain struggles with a broken override and seems to drift through bands or seeming waves of space at one point.

Wall Dance

Wall Dance

Passage

The idea of passage, from one place or time to another is something that interests me intensely.  From a simple hike through the woods, to a road trip, to the types of exploration and all of the layers of discovery by one group that leads to layers of trouble and even genocide by another group.  There is discovery in my paintings,...layers, what comes first and what follows, what is concealed and what is revealed? Taking a walk through a painting, a simple meditative stroll will open many doors.

Ley lines

Ley lines are lines that crisscross around the globe, like latitudinal and longitudinal lines, that are dotted with monuments and natural landforms, and carry along with them rivers of supernatural energy.  This began the first in a series of paintings, inspired from how I completed the Roosevelt Island pool commission, in which I use individual brushed lines to add to the sweeping, squeegee created circles.

Blue

There are times when a painting feels like it comes together in the simplest of gestures.  These are often my favorites pieces. This was one of two paintings I created first in my new Bushwick painting studio.  The large ‘open’ area was created using poured water in which I allow the water to assert its own area of control within the piece.  The Blue is a reference to all of the ways in which people seem drawn to this color, from water to sky and even just the refreshing allure of the color in and of itself.

Within

Contained within?  What is buried within the layers of colors, veils of light and dark?  With each of my paintings, there is the physical embodiment of color and light but there is also reference to the inner workings of meditative thought of creative discovery, memory and layers of meaning beneath and beyond the mere surface of things.

Middle

I continue to play with this specific painting.  What began as a ‘simple’ layering of subtle colors has become a myriad of metallics and individual raw pigments worked into the surface while the paint is still wet.  It is still recognizable but has been transformed from its ‘Middle’ stage, a direct response to the idea of a middle child and even Middle Earth into something completely different.

Hunt Or Chess

Hunt Or Chess

Don’t Play

Don’t Play

Ceiling Shadows

There are times when a painting feels like it comes together in the simplest of gestures.  These are often my favorites pieces. This was one of two paintings I created first in my new Bushwick painting studio.  At times, the simplest of colors inspires me in my painting. For this particular piece, I translated the colors directly from the shifting greens and golds playfully moving on my ceiling as I awoke one morning.

Open

This little painting has been a pleasant surprise in the studio.  One of the last pieces I was working on before the pandemic that has forced me back into painting in my Upper West Side apartment.  The rich colors are inspired from numerous everyday palettes I saw as I walked around New York and LA recently. It is one of those paintings that is itself full of inspiration and energy for future works.

Soup

This colors for this painting were inspired directly from a ‘Soup’ diet my girlfriend at the time had put us both on.  The carrots, kale, beets are all represented here. Again, the idea of soup has so many meanings with its ingredients contained within but gathering and mixing together in a way that forms something new.  I am pleased that this large piece found a permanent home in Switzerland recently.

Tears in the Sun, ‘For Roy’

The colors of this painting were inspired by the final scene in the class Sci Fi movie, Blade Runner. As the powerful 'replicant' 'Roy' fades away, like tears in the rain...he describes the things he has seen. Harrison Ford's character, 'Deckard' watches as this 'creation' dies. I find so many layers to this story, this film in regards to artistic creations, our finite lives and the idea of creator vs. creation. The colors are dramatic but muted much like the fading light of Roy.

Wall

This colors for this series was heavily inspired by several observed details around me in the time they were created. Firstly, I wandered through the heavy metal structures of Richard Serra, saw a 'beautiful' dumpster, rusted to an almost bronze hue... Lastly, I watched the original 'Star Trek' in its' entirety, paying particular attention to the riveting array of colors, including a metallic kaleidoscope of intense hues.

Coffee All The Time

Only Live Twice

This colors for this series was heavily inspired by several observed details around me in the time they were created. Firstly, I wandered through the heavy metal structures of Richard Serra, saw a 'beautiful' dumpster, rusted to an almost bronze hue... Lastly, I watched the original 'Star Trek' in its' entirety, paying particular attention to the riveting array of colors, including a metallic kaleidoscope of intense hues.

Ocean’s Away

Blues, purples, even a hint of green pervades this painting as a wave of gold crashes across the lower half.  I have always been fascinated by water, the sheer beauty as well as the destructive force it can be.... But also the symbolic importance of renewal, rebirth, cleansing, nourishing...It premiered at my first showing during Art Basel in 2018 with the Milk Press Gallery.  It was purchased shortly after by a private collector in Brooklyn.

Hologram

Hologram

Dream

The colors for this series were heavily inspired by several observed details around me at the time they were created.  Firstly, I wandered through the heavy metal structures of Richard Serra, saw a beautiful ‘dumpster’, rusted to an almost bronze hue…Lastly, I watched the original ‘Star Trek’ TV series in its entirety, paying particular attention to the riveting array of colors, including a metallic kaleidoscope of intense hues.

You Belong To Me

This colors for this series was heavily inspired by several observed details around me in the time they were created. Firstly, I wandered through the heavy metal structures of Richard Serra, saw a 'beautiful' dumpster, rusted to an almost bronze hue... Lastly, I watched the original 'Star Trek' in its' entirety, paying particular attention to the riveting array of colors, including a metallic kaleidoscope of intense hues.

Its title is a song and a reference to the twisted idea of ownership in a relationship.  Whether that is the ‘owning’ of a work of art (in process or after purchase) or in the dealings we have with one another, partnerships, friendships & dalliances alike.  How can one belong to another?  How can the transience of this existence somehow be subverted if we will it or somehow force a concept to be reality?

Cloudy with a Chance

In my personal quest to see if minimal marks, even minimal colors can sustain power, beauty and hold a viewers attention…I drew inspiration from the simplest color range with opalescent colors, satins, creams, buff…even the color of the fabric plays a significant role in the subtle drama.

On a more visceral level, the paintings in this series deal with presence and loss.  A close friend, whom I regard as a brother (his name is actually Chance), moved across the country and I was dealing with the presence of him in my thoughts and memory but also dealing with the lack of physical presence, voice, etc.  It all felt very subtle,…especially in this day and age of ‘digital connection’ there still felt a thinness to that new way left for us to connect even though our bond remains strong, palpable…it is softened and less vibrant.

Cloudy with a Chance, part II

In my personal quest to see if minimal marks, even minimal colors can sustain power, beauty and hold a viewers attention…I drew inspiration from the simplest color range with opalescent colors, satins, creams, buff…even the color of the fabric plays a significant role in the subtle drama.

On a more visceral level, the paintings in this series deal with presence and loss.  A close friend, whom I regard as a brother (his name is actually Chance), moved across the country and I was dealing with the presence of him in my thoughts and memory but also dealing with the lack of physical presence, voice, etc.  It all felt very subtle,…especially in this day and age of ‘digital connection’ there still felt a thinness to that new way left for us to connect even though our bond remains strong, palpable…it is softened and less vibrant.

Inner Glow

This was an interesting piece for me.  I layered and played with the colors in a different way than in the past work.  I worked layers over one another after they had dried and it brought forth a powerful vibrance that seems to resonate.  The idea of inner glow refers to so many things once again...the idea of a glow that people may have when they are happy or experience pleasure even that it might be the hint that someone is pregnant.  For me the pregnant moment in this painting is the glow that refers to inner knowledge or awakening.  For some this may mean the presence of a higher power, for me it is simply the knowledge that there is something bigger than ourselves.  Perhaps that is the same thing?

Layers

Layers

Little Blue

I am completely and utterly fascinated with blue in every single way.  The fact that it is so many peoples ‘favorite’ color (perhaps linked to a primal need and love of water), the feelings it evokes, the memories it seems to generate...all are quite visceral.  I do think I could paint only with layers of blue for the rest of my life and still be fascinated with its multi-faceted sense of purpose.

 
Thurzday

Thurzday

Science of Goodbye

Science of Goodbye

Lost Horizon

Lost Horizon

To Have & To Hold

To Have & To Hold

Difficult Lavender

Difficult Lavender

The Blues

The Blues

Warm Colors

Warm Colors

Blue Light Special

Blue Light Special

Calm In A Storm

Calm In A Storm

Twilight Blue

Twilight Blue

The Quality of Mercy

The Quality of Mercy